Gary Stretch (born in St. Helens, Lancashire) is a British boxer, male model, and actor. In 2004 Stretch was cast as psychotic gangster "Sonny" in Shane Meadows' gritty cult thriller Dead Man's Shoes (2004), for which Stretch received a BIFA nomination alongside fellow British actor Paddy Considine. He went on to appear in the Oliver Stone film Alexander (2004). Stretch also starred in the UK film Freebird in 2008, directed by Jon Ivay. Appearing alongside Phil Daniels and Geoff Bell, the film followed three bikers across a drug fuelled ride in the Welsh countryside. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gary Stretch, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- November 4, 1968 (57)
- St. Helens, Merseyside, England, UK
- Actor and producer, also director and writer
- 16 on MovieCove · 31 credits in all
What are Gary Stretch's films like?
Across their 12 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 11
Light 4 · Serious 4 · Dark 4
A split, not a type: Grounded 7 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 2
Gentle 0 · Charged 7 · Intense 5
A split, not a type: Steady 6 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 11 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 7 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 3
Resolved 9 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 2
Roles they play
Usually the Shadow: 4 of 9 analyzed roles.
Show the 9 rolesHide the roles
- Shadowas Richard Welton in Dead Connection (1994)
- Heroas Ronnie in A Good Night to Die (2003)
- Mentoras Ronnie in A Good Night to Die (2003)
- Shadowas Sonny in Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
- Heroas Fernando De Gamma in The King Maker (2005)
- Heroas Mitchell 'Boots' Mason in The Heavy (2009)
- Shadowas Frank in The Girl from the Naked Eye (2012)
- Heroas Captain John Steakley in Rise of the Dinosaurs (2013)
- Shadowas Ivan Rawlings in My Father Die (2016)
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet5
- Tragic4
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Gary Stretch's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 8 of their 16 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (6).
Subscription and free streaming for Gary Stretch's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
31 credits, 16 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Devil's Play(2025)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
Shifting Tides (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Through My Father's Eyes(2019)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
My Father Die(2016)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
Yellow (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Rise of the Dinosaurs(2013)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all filmsThe Pugilist's Son (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Savages(2012)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 15th percentile of all films
Girls of Sunset Place (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
Baseline (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
The Heavy(2009)
Midcredits score: 15th percentile of all films
Deadwater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Freebird (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Tied in Knots (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Afghan Knights(2007)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films
World Trade Center(2006)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
The King Maker(2005)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all filmsweb62.com InterViews (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Alexander(2004)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
Dead Man's Shoes(2004)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
A Good Night to Die(2003)
Midcredits score: 6th percentile of all films
Dead Dogs Lie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Business for Pleasure (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Infidelity (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Profiler (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
FX: The Series (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Dead Connection(1994)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films
Acapulco H.E.A.T.(1993)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all shows
Blurred (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 91st percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 31 titles, 30 of them dated from 1993 to 2025; peak year 2004.
Biggest box office
Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
Highest rated
Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
Most popular right now
Afghan Knights (2007)
Film career
Peak 2004 · back in prominent film roles after a quiet stretch. Top draw in 1 MovieCove title. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2004Screen debut· Dead Man's Shoes
- 2010First top-billed film· The Heavy
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Gary Stretch's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 15th percentile, the median of all 15; across their 12 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 13th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th9
Shape of the crowd
13 of their 16 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Divisive1
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Mixed13
Reviewers score the acting 49/100 in their films, across 12 reviewed titles; fans 77, detractors 27. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Gary Stretch work with?
People who share at least 2 of Gary Stretch's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Pete Antico shares the most, 3.
Actors
- Pete AnticoShared titles: Through My Father's Eyes (2019), The Girl from the Naked Eye (2012), Afghan Knights (2007)See all 3 shared titles with Pete Antico
- Geoff BellShared titles: Devil's Play (2025), The Heavy (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Geoff Bell
- Lee RyanShared titles: Devil's Play (2025), The Heavy (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Lee Ryan
- Michael MadsenShared titles: Afghan Knights (2007), Dead Connection (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Michael Madsen
