Ursula. Despite his age, Beowulf goes to great lengths to stop the dragon. Beowulf is mortally wounded in the struggle, but manages to kill the dragon by ripping its heart out, and he and the creature tumble to the rocky beach below the castle. The dragon transforms into its golden humanoid form, before being washed out to sea. Before he dies, Beowulf tries to tell Wiglaf the truth about his affair with Grendel's mother and acknowledge his son, but Wiglaf insists on keeping his legacy intact. As the new king, Wiglaf gives Beowulf a Norse funeral. Wiglaf finds the golden horn in the sand and sees Grendel's mother give Beowulf a final kiss as his burning ship sinks into the sea. Grendel's mother slowly rises to the water's surface and seductively beckons Wiglaf towards her. He wades into the sea, while holding the golden drinking horn, before pausing halfway in the surf. They both stare at each other, with Grendel's mother seductively waiting and Wiglaf clearly tempted. Cast Ray Winstone as Beowulf, the title character. Zemeckis cast Winstone after seeing his performance as the title character of the 2003 ITV serial Henry VIII. On the topic of the original poem, Winstone commented during an interview, "I had the beauty of not reading the book, which I understand portrays Beowulf as a very one-dimensional kind of character; a hero and a warrior and that was it. I didn't have any of that baggage to bring with me." Winstone enjoyed working with motion-capture, stating that "You were allowed to go, like theater, where you carry a scene on and you become engrossed within the scene. I loved the speed of it. There was no time to sit around. You actually cracked on with a scene and your energy levels were kept up. There was no time to actually sit around and lose your concentration. So, for me, I actually really, really enjoyed this experience." Unlike some of his castmates, Winstone's animated counterpart bears little resemblance to the actor who was in his early 50s when he filmed the role; Winstone noted that his computer-generated counterpart resembled himself at the age of eighteen, although the filmmakers did not have a photo for reference. Winstone also played a dwarf performer, and the "Golden Man"/Dragon. Crispin Glover and Angelina Jolie as Grendel and his mother, the antagonists. Glover had previously worked with Zemeckis in Back