Though he's been acting for decades, Ray Winstone has been taking on some of his most unusual roles just in the last year-- namely, a buff and toned Beowulf and a two-timing, completely odd character in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now apparently he's proven his versatility enough that he's fit to replace one of Hollywood's most distinctive actors-- Robert De Niro.

Winstone has stepped into De Niro's role in Edge of Darkness, the movie De Niro abandoned last week due to "creative differences" with either director Martin Campbell or co-star Mel Gibson. Winstone, Variety writes that Winstone will play a police operative who cleans up the evidence in a murder, the victim being the daughter of Mel Gibson's character. Given De Niro's recent penchant for playing cop figures, and how much it annoys some of us, this switch probably isn't bad for De Niro's career. For Winstone's sake, let's just hope he hasn't signed on to a bum project.