August 12, 2010 15:53

Ray Winstone talks about being struck by lightning in new UNKLE video - watch now

Actor appears in clip for 'The Answer'

Ray Winstone called upon an actual near death experience for UNKLE's video for new single 'The Answer'. The video for the track starts with the actor talking about the moment he was struck by lightning at the age of 17 in 1974.

"I had this incredible sense of a bright light, a flash and then I woke up about half an hour later 20 feet away from where I was struck by lightning," he says. "I was a lucky boy. And the lightning, it was what they call a splash hit, it... went down my left arm, down my left leg… if it'd come down the middle then I probably wouldn't be talking to you today… I'd be somewhere else."

The video is directed by John Hillcoat, who has worked with Depeche Mode, Nick Cave and Muse, as well as directing the 2009 film The Road.

As the song begins to play in the background, Winstone explains how the near death experience gave him a new lease of life.

"It was almost like one life ended and a new life started for me. It makes you think how beautiful and how wonderful life is," he adds. "Thats why every day to me is very special, when I look at my look at my kids or I look in the garden and I see rabbits running around… I like travelling and seeing the world.

"That's what happened to me. When you get leaves that die in the autumn, you get these veins, like a river, like a red river. They almost look like lightning themselves, like the effect of lightning… beautiful. It's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

"My life was forever changed. One life had ended and a new life had begun."