
Bill Nighy
William Francis Nighy (born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received numerous awards, including two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a Tony Award. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with The Illuminatus! in 1977. There he gained acclaim for his roles in David Hare's Pravda in 1985, Harold Pinter's Betrayal in 1991, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and Anton Chekov's The Seagull in 1994. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance in Blue/Orange in 2001. He made his Broadway debut in Hare's The Vertical Hour in 2006, and returned in the 2015 revival of Hare's Skylight earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. Early film roles include in the comedies Still Crazy (1998), and Blow Dry (1999) before his breakout role in Love Actually (2003) which earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He soon gained recognition portraying Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2006-2007), and Viktor in the Underworld film series (2003-2009). Other films include Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Hot Fuzz (2007), Valkyrie (2008), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), About Time (2013), Emma (2020), and Living (2022), the last of these earning him his first career Academy Award nomination. Nighy has gained acclaim for his roles in television earning a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance in BBC One series State of Play (2003), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the BBC film Gideon's Daughter (2007). He's also known for his roles in HBO's The Girl in the Café (2006) and PBS's Page Eight (2012).
Known For
Credits
- 2026 · Shelter as
- 2025 · Harlan Coben's Lazarus as Doctor Lazarus ' Dr L'
- 2025 · & Sons as Andrew
- 2025 · Bulk as (voice)
- 2021 · Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular as Self
- 2019 · StarDog and TurboCat as Sinclair (voice)
- 2019 · World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)
- 2017 · The Bookshop as Mr. Brundish
- 2017 · Red Nose Day Actually as Billy Mack
- 2017 · Their Finest as Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
- 2015 · The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
- 2014 · Salting the Battlefield as Johnny Worricker
- 2012 · London: The Modern Babylon as Spoken Quotations (voice)
- 2011 · Real Creatures of Dirt as Self / Rattlesnake Jake
- 2009 · 10 Minute Tales as
- 2009 · Glorious 39 as Alexander Keyes
- 2007 · Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz as Self
- 2005 · Don't Crash: The Documentary of the Making of the Movie of the Book of the Radio Series of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as Self
- 2005 · Meerkat Manor as Narrator
- 2005 · The Girl in the Café as Lawrence
- 2004 · Enduring Love as Robin
- 2004 · He Knew He Was Right as Colonel Osborne
- 2004 · Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
- 2003 · Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher as Self - Narrator
- 2003 · Canterbury Tales as James
- 2003 · The Lost Prince as Stamfordham
- 2002 · AKA as Uncle Louis Gryffoyn
- 2001 · Lucky Break as Roger
- 1999 · Guest House Paradiso as Mr. Johnson
- 1999 · People Like Us as Will Rushmore
- 1994 · Being Human as Julian
- 1993 · Unnatural Causes as Oliver Latham
- 1990 · Chillers as Tom Dickenson
- 1989 · Mack the Knife as Tiger Brown
- 1988 · South Of The Border as Tony Freason
- 1988 · This Morning as Self
- 1985 · The Last Place on Earth as Cecil Meares
- 1984 · The Little Drummer Girl as Al
- 1982 · Under the Skin as Dave
- 1981 · Eye of the Needle as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
- 1980 · Standing in for Henry as Bruno
- 1979 · Deasey (Desperate) as Deasy
- 1979 · Agony as Vincent Fish
- 1978 · Soldiers Talking, Cleanly as Bill
- Future · Heart of Darkness as (voice)
- 2025 · This is the Beginning as
- 2024 · That Christmas as Lighthouse Bill (voice)
- 2024 · Joy as Patrick Steptoe
- 2024 · The Wild Robot as Longneck (voice)
- 2024 · Kent: Garden of England as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2024 · Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue as Conrad (voice)
- 2024 · 10 Lives as Professor Craven (voice)
- 2024 · The First Omen as Cardinal Lawrence
- 2024 · The Beautiful Game as Mal
- 2023 · Role Play as Bob
- 2023 · Darkling as
- 2023 · Spectre of the Bear as Bennett (voice)
- 2023 · Bloody Fury as Bloody's Consciousness (voice)
- 2023 · Norfolk & Suffolk: Coast & Country as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2022 · The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special as Self
- 2022 · Living as Williams
- 2022 · LIGHT & MAGIC as Self (archive footage)
- 2022 · The Man Who Fell to Earth as Thomas Jerome Newton
- 2021 · Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · Lotus: A New Dawn as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · Iberia's Woodlands: Life on the Edge as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · Buckley's Chance as Spencer
- 2021 · World's Most Scenic River Journeys as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · Minamata as Robert "Bob" Hayes
- 2020 · Emma. as Mr. Woodhouse
- 2019 · The Kindness of Strangers as Timofey
- 2019 · Hope Gap as Edward
- 2019 · Pokémon Detective Pikachu as Howard Clifford
- 2019 · Sometimes Always Never as Alan
- 2018 · Ordeal by Innocence as Leo Argyll
- 2017 · Castlevania as Saint Germain (voice)
- 2016 · The Limehouse Golem as John Kildare
- 2016 · Dad's Army as Sergeant Wilson
- 2016 · Norm of the North as Socrates (voice)
- 2015 · A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman as Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas'
- 2014 · Pride as Cliff
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: Skylight as Tom Sergeant
- 2014 · Turks & Caicos as Johnny Worricker
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2014 · I, Frankenstein as Naberius
- 2013 · About Time as Dad
- 2013 · The World's End as The Network (voice)
- 2013 · The Hungry Corpse as The Hungry Corpse
- 2013 · Great White Shark as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · Jack the Giant Slayer as General Fallon
- 2013 · Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene as Graham Greene (voice)
- 2012 · Total Recall as Matthias
- 2012 · Wrath of the Titans as Hephaestus
- 2012 · The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
- 2011 · Arthur Christmas as Grandsanta (voice)
- 2011 · Page Eight as Johnny Worricker
- 2011 · Astonish Me as The Professor
- 2011 · Rango as Rattlesnake Jake (voice)
- 2011 · Chalet Girl as Richard Madsen
- 2010 · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as Rufus Scrimgeour
- 2010 · Wild Target as Victor Maynard
- 2009 · Astro Boy as Dr. Elefun / Robotsky (voice)
- 2009 · Live from Studio Five as Self
- 2009 · G-Force as Leonard Saber
- 2009 · The Big Art Project as Narrator
- 2009 · The Boat That Rocked as Quentin
- 2009 · Underworld: Rise of the Lycans as Viktor
- 2008 · Valkyrie as Friedrich Olbricht
- 2008 · Slapper as Arnold Percy
- 2007 · Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as Davy Jones
- 2007 · Hot Fuzz as Met Chief Inspector
- 2006 · Notes on a Scandal as Richard Hart
- 2006 · Flushed Away as Whitey (voice)
- 2006 · The One Show as Self
- 2006 · Stormbreaker as Alan Blunt
- 2006 · Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as Davy Jones
- 2006 · We Love Cigarettes as Narrator
- 2006 · Underworld: Evolution as Viktor
- 2006 · Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener as Self
- 2005 · Gideon's Daughter as Gideon Warner
- 2005 · The Constant Gardener as Sir Bernard Pellegrin
- 2005 · Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as Self
- 2005 · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Slartibartfast
- 2005 · Doctor Who as Dr Black
- 2004 · The Magic Roundabout as Dylan (voice)
- 2004 · Ready When You Are, Mr McGill as Phil Parish
- 2004 · Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews as Self - Narrator
- 2004 · Shaun of the Dead as Phillip
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Earl of Clincham
- 2003 · Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates as
- 2003 · Grumpy Old Men as Self
- 2003 · Underworld as Viktor
- 2003 · Love Actually as Billy Mack
- 2003 · State of Play as Cameron Foster
- 2003 · I Capture the Castle as James Mortmain
- 2002 · Timeshift as self (voice)
- 2002 · Lawless Heart as Dan
- 2002 · The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as Lockwood
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2001 · Blow Dry as Ray Robertson
- 2000 · Black Books as Man at bar
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 1999 · The Bass Player as
- 1998 · Still Crazy as Ray Simms
- 1998 · Parkinson as Self
- 1997 · FairyTale: A True Story as Edward Gardner
- 1996 · True Blue as Jeremy Saville
- 1996 · Alive and Kicking as Tristan
- 1996 · Testament: The Bible in Animation as Belshazzar (voice)
- 1995 · Kavanagh Q.C. as Giles Culpepper QC
- 1994 · Wycliffe as David Cleeve
- 1993 · The Maitlands as Roger Maitland
- 1993 · Don't Leave Me This Way as John Tracey
- 1993 · Peak Practice as Alan Sinclair
- 1993 · Eye of the Storm as Tom Frewen
- 1992 · A Masculine Ending as John Tracey
- 1991 · Performance as Roger Maitland
- 1991 · Performance as Hugh Marriner
- 1991 · Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Antonia and Jane as Howard Nash
- 1990 · Making News as Sam Courtney
- 1989 · The Phantom of the Opera as Martin Barton
- 1985 · Thirteen at Dinner as Ronald Marsh
- 1985 · Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil as Helmut Hoffmann
- 1983 · Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Jeffrey Grainger
- 1983 · Reilly: Ace of Spies as Goschen
- 1983 · Curse of the Pink Panther as ENT Doctor
- 1982 · Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan
- 1980 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Officer
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Death Watch as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
- 1979 · Minder as Oates
- 1976 · Occupy! as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
- 1974 · Playhouse as Bruno
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dave
- Future · Ride or Die as The Director
- Future · 500 Miles as
- Future · California Avenue as Jerry
- 1980 · Dreams of Leaving as William
- Future · Pink Sky at Night as Man
- Future · Welcome to Paradise as Hooker Duck Host (voice)