
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
- 2024 · The Wild Robot as Longneck (voice)
- 2024 · The First Omen as Cardinal Lawrence
- 2024 · The Beautiful Game as Mal
- 2022 · The Man Who Fell to Earth as Thomas Jerome Newton
- 2021 · Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · Ordeal by Innocence as Leo Argyll
- 2017 · Castlevania as Saint Germain (voice)
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2013 · About Time as Dad
- 2013 · Jack the Giant Slayer as General Fallon
- 2011 · Rango as Rattlesnake Jake (voice)
- 2010 · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as Rufus Scrimgeour
- 2009 · 10 Minute Tales as
- 2007 · Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as Davy Jones
- 2006 · Flushed Away as Whitey (voice)
- 2006 · The One Show as Self
- 2006 · Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as Davy Jones
- 2005 · Meerkat Manor as Narrator
- 2005 · Doctor Who as Dr Black
- 2003 · Grumpy Old Men as Self
- 2003 · State of Play as Cameron Foster
- 2003 · The Lost Prince as Stamfordham
- 2002 · Timeshift as self (voice)
- 2002 · The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as Lockwood
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2000 · Black Books as Man at bar
- 1999 · People Like Us as Will Rushmore
- 1998 · Parkinson as Self
- 1996 · Testament: The Bible in Animation as Belshazzar (voice)
- 1995 · Kavanagh Q.C. as Giles Culpepper QC
- 1994 · Wycliffe as David Cleeve
- 1993 · Peak Practice as Alan Sinclair
- 1991 · Performance as Roger Maitland
- 1991 · Performance as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Chillers as Tom Dickenson
- 1990 · Making News as Sam Courtney
- 1988 · South Of The Border as Tony Freason
- 1985 · The Last Place on Earth as Cecil Meares
- 1983 · Reilly: Ace of Spies as Goschen
- 1979 · Minder as Oates
- 1979 · Agony as Vincent Fish
- 1974 · Playhouse as Bruno
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dave
- Future · Ride or Die as The Director
- Future · Lazarus as Doctor Lazarus ' Dr L'
- 2024 · That Christmas as Lighthouse Bill (voice)
- 2024 · Joy as Patrick Steptoe
- 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)
- 2023 · Role Play as Bob
- 2022 · The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special as Self
- 2020 · Minamata as Robert "Bob" Hayes
- 2019 · The Kindness of Strangers as Timofey
- 2019 · StarDog and TurboCat as Sinclair (voice)
- 2019 · Hope Gap as Edward
- 2019 · Sometimes Always Never as Alan
- 2017 · The Bookshop as Mr. Brundish
- 2017 · Red Nose Day Actually as Billy Mack
- 2017 · Their Finest as Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
- 2016 · Dad's Army as Sergeant Wilson
- 2015 · A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman as Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas'
- 2015 · The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
- 2014 · Salting the Battlefield as Johnny Worricker
- 2014 · Turks & Caicos as Johnny Worricker
- 2012 · London: The Modern Babylon as Spoken Quotations (voice)
- 2011 · Page Eight as Johnny Worricker
- 2011 · Chalet Girl as Richard Madsen
- 2010 · Wild Target as Victor Maynard
- 2009 · Glorious 39 as Alexander Keyes
- 2006 · Stormbreaker as Alan Blunt
- 2005 · Gideon's Daughter as Gideon Warner
- 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 · The Girl in the Café as Lawrence
- 2004 · Enduring Love as Robin
- 2003 · I Capture the Castle as James Mortmain
- 2002 · Lawless Heart as Dan
- 2002 · AKA as Uncle Louis Gryffoyn
- 2001 · Lucky Break as Roger
- 2001 · Blow Dry as Ray Robertson
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 1999 · Guest House Paradiso as Mr. Johnson
- 1998 · Still Crazy as Ray Simms
- 1997 · FairyTale: A True Story as Edward Gardner
- 1996 · Alive and Kicking as Tristan
- 1994 · Being Human as Julian
- 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
- 1984 · The Little Drummer Girl as Al
- 1983 · Curse of the Pink Panther as ENT Doctor
- 1980 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Officer
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Death Watch as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
- Future · Untitled Jason Statham Action-Thriller as
- 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 · Living as Williams
- 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 · Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular as Self
- 2020 · Emma. as Mr. Woodhouse
- 2019 · Pokémon Detective Pikachu as Howard Clifford
- 2016 · The Limehouse Golem as John Kildare
- 2016 · Norm of the North as Socrates (voice)
- 2014 · Pride as Cliff
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: Skylight as Tom Sergeant
- 2014 · I, Frankenstein as Naberius
- 2013 · The World's End as The Network (voice)
- Future · & Sons as
- 2013 · The Hungry Corpse as The Hungry Corpse
- 2013 · Great White Shark as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 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 · Astonish Me as The Professor
- 2011 · Real Creatures of Dirt as Self / Rattlesnake Jake
- 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 · Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz as Self
- 2007 · Hot Fuzz as Met Chief Inspector
- 2006 · Notes on a Scandal as Richard Hart
- 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 · 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
- 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 · He Knew He Was Right as Colonel Osborne
- 2004 · Shaun of the Dead as Phillip
- 2004 · Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
- 2003 · Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher as Narrator
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Earl of Clincham
- 2003 · Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates as
- 2003 · Underworld as Viktor
- 2003 · Canterbury Tales as James
- 2003 · Love Actually as Billy Mack
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 1999 · The Bass Player as
- 1996 · True Blue as Jeremy Saville
- 1993 · The Maitlands as Roger Maitland
- 1993 · Don't Leave Me This Way as John Tracey
- 1993 · Eye of the Storm as Tom Frewen
- 1993 · Unnatural Causes as Oliver Latham
- 1992 · A Masculine Ending as John Tracey
- 1991 · Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Antonia and Jane as Howard Nash
- 1989 · Mack the Knife as Tiger Brown
- 1988 · This Morning as Self
- 1983 · Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Jeffrey Grainger
- 1982 · Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan
- 1982 · Under the Skin as Dave
- 1981 · Eye of the Needle as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
- 1980 · Standing in for Henry as Bruno
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Dreams of Leaving as William
- 1979 · Deasey (Desperate) as Deasy
- 1978 · Soldiers Talking, Cleanly as Bill
- 1976 · Occupy! as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
- Future · 500 Miles as
- Future · Welcome to Paradise as Hooker Duck Host (voice)
- Future · California Avenue as Jerry