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
- 2021 · Buckley's Chance as Spencer
- 2019 · World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · Ordeal by Innocence as Leo Argyll
- 2017 · Red Nose Day Actually as Billy Mack
- 2016 · The Limehouse Golem as John Kildare
- 2015 · A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman as Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas'
- 2013 · The Hungry Corpse as The Hungry Corpse
- 2011 · Page Eight as Johnny Worricker
- 2011 · Astonish Me as The Professor
- 2011 · Real Creatures of Dirt as Self / Rattlesnake Jake
- 2009 · 10 Minute Tales as
- 2007 · Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz as Self
- 2006 · Notes on a Scandal as Richard Hart
- 2005 · Meerkat Manor as Narrator
- 2004 · Bottom Mindless Violence as Mr. Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2004 · Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews as Self - Narrator
- 2003 · Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher as Self - Narrator
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Earl of Clincham
- 2003 · Grumpy Old Men as Self
- 2003 · State of Play as Cameron Foster
- 2003 · I Capture the Castle as James Mortmain
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 1999 · People Like Us as Will Rushmore
- 1996 · True Blue as Jeremy Saville
- 1996 · Testament: The Bible in Animation as Belshazzar (voice)
- 1993 · The Maitlands as Roger Maitland
- 1991 · Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Antonia and Jane as Howard Nash
- 1990 · Chillers as Tom Dickenson
- 1989 · The Phantom of the Opera as Martin Barton
- 1989 · Mack the Knife as Tiger Brown
- 1988 · South Of The Border as Tony Freason
- 1988 · This Morning as Self
- 1985 · Thirteen at Dinner as Ronald Marsh
- 1985 · The Last Place on Earth as Cecil Meares
- 1983 · Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Jeffrey Grainger
- 1980 · Standing in for Henry as Bruno
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- Future · 500 Miles as
- 1982 · Under the Skin as Dave
- 1976 · Occupy! as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
- Future · Heart of Darkness as (voice)
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1979 · Agony as Vincent Fish
- Future · The Turning Door as (voice)
- 2025 · This Is the Beginning as
- 2025 · Bulk as (voice)
- 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 · Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · World's Most Scenic River Journeys as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular as Self
- 2020 · Minamata as Robert "Bob" Hayes
- 2020 · Emma. as Mr. Woodhouse
- 2019 · The Kindness of Strangers as Timofey
- 2019 · StarDog and TurboCat as Sinclair (voice)
- 2019 · Hope Gap as Edward
- 2019 · Pokémon Detective Pikachu as Howard Clifford
- 2019 · Sometimes Always Never as Alan
- 2017 · The Bookshop as Mr. Brundish
- 2017 · Castlevania as Saint Germain (voice)
- 2017 · Their Finest as Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
- 2016 · Dad's Army as Sergeant Wilson
- 2016 · Norm of the North as Socrates (voice)
- 2015 · The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
- 2014 · Pride as Cliff
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: Skylight as Tom Sergeant
- 2014 · Salting the Battlefield as Johnny Worricker
- 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 · 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 · London: The Modern Babylon as Spoken Quotations (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 · 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 · Glorious 39 as Alexander Keyes
- 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 · Flushed Away as Whitey (voice)
- 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 · 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 Constant Gardener as Sir Bernard Pellegrin
- 2005 · Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as Self
- 2005 · The Girl in the Café as Lawrence
- 2005 · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Slartibartfast
- 2005 · Doctor Who as Dr Black
- 2004 · Enduring Love as Robin
- 2004 · The Magic Roundabout as Dylan (voice)
- 2004 · Ready When You Are, Mr McGill as Phil Parish
- 2004 · He Knew He Was Right as Colonel Osborne
- 2004 · Shaun of the Dead as Phillip
- 2004 · Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
- 2003 · Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates as
- 2003 · Underworld as Viktor
- 2003 · Canterbury Tales as James
- 2003 · Love Actually as Billy Mack
- 2003 · The Lost Prince as Stamfordham
- 2002 · Timeshift as self (voice)
- 2002 · Lawless Heart as Dan
- 2002 · The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as Lockwood
- 2002 · AKA as Uncle Louis Gryffoyn
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2001 · Lucky Break as Roger
- 2001 · Blow Dry as Ray Robertson
- 2000 · Black Books as Man at bar
- 1999 · Guest House Paradiso as Mr. Johnson
- 1999 · The Bass Player as
- 1998 · Still Crazy as Ray Simms
- 1998 · Parkinson as Self
- 1997 · FairyTale: A True Story as Edward Gardner
- 1996 · Alive and Kicking as Tristan
- 1995 · Kavanagh Q.C. as Giles Culpepper QC
- 1994 · Wycliffe as David Cleeve
- 1994 · Being Human as Julian
- 1993 · Don't Leave Me This Way as John Tracey
- 1993 · Peak Practice as Alan Sinclair
- 1993 · Eye of the Storm as Tom Frewen
- 1993 · Unnatural Causes as Oliver Latham
- 1992 · A Masculine Ending as John Tracey
- 1991 · Performance as Roger Maitland
- 1991 · Performance as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Making News as Sam Courtney
- 1985 · Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil as Helmut Hoffmann
- 1984 · The Little Drummer Girl as Al
- 1983 · Reilly: Ace of Spies as Goschen
- 1983 · Curse of the Pink Panther as ENT Doctor
- 1982 · Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan
- 1981 · Eye of the Needle as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
- 1980 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Officer
- 1980 · Death Watch as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
- Future · Ride or Die as The Director
- 1980 · Dreams of Leaving as William
- 1979 · Deasey (Desperate) as Deasy
- 1979 · Minder as Oates
- 1978 · Soldiers Talking, Cleanly as Bill
- 1974 · Playhouse as Bruno
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dave
- Future · California Avenue as Jerry
- Future · Welcome to Paradise as Hooker Duck Host (voice)
- Future · Pink Sky at Night as Man