Bill Nighy
William Francis Nighy (/naɪ/; born 12 December 1949) is a British actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received various accolades, including two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. 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. 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 Chekhov's The Seagull in 1994. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his role in Blue/Orange in 2001. He acted on Broadway in the David Hare plays The Vertical Hour (2006) and Skylight (2015), earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for the latter. Nighy's early film roles include the comedies Still Crazy (1998), Guest House Paradiso (1999) and Blow Dry (2001). He rose to international stardom with his role in Love Actually (2003), for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He went on to portray Viktor in the Underworld film series (2003–2009) and Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2006–2007). His 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), Wild Target (2010), 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 which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Nighy has gained acclaim for his television roles, earning a BAFTA Award for his role in the BBC One series State of Play (2003), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the BBC film Gideon's Daughter (2007). He is also known for his roles in The Girl in the Café (2006), the BBC's Worricker trilogy, which includes Page Eight (2012), Turks & Caicos (2014), and Salting the Battlefield (2014), and the BBC's Ordeal by Innocence (2018). Description above from the Wikipedia article Bill Nighy, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2026 · Ride or Die as The Director
- 2026 · 500 Miles as
- 2026 · Shelter as Manafort
- 2025 · Harlan Coben's Lazarus as Doctor Lazarus 'Dr L'
- 2025 · & Sons as Andrew
- 2024 · That Christmas as Lighthouse Bill (voice)
- 2024 · Joy as Patrick Steptoe
- 2024 · The Wild Robot as Longneck (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 · 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 · Buckley's Chance as Spencer
- 2021 · Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · World's Most Scenic River Journeys as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · Natural History Museum: World of Wonder as Self - Narrator
- 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 · World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)
- 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 · The Bookshop as Mr. Brundish
- 2017 · Castlevania as Saint Germain (voice)
- 2017 · Red Nose Day Actually as Billy Mack
- 2017 · Their Finest as Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
- 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'
- 2015 · The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
- 2014 · Pride as Cliff
- 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 · Jack the Giant Slayer as General Fallon
- 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 · Page Eight as Johnny Worricker
- 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 · 10 Minute Tales as Mr Jellaby
- 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 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 · Stormbreaker as Alan Blunt
- 2006 · Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as Davy Jones
- 2006 · Underworld: Evolution as Viktor
- 2005 · Gideon's Daughter as Gideon Warner
- 2005 · Meerkat Manor as Narrator
- 2005 · The Constant Gardener as Sir Bernard Pellegrin
- 2005 · The Girl in the Café as Lawrence
- 2005 · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Slartibartfast
- 2005 · Doctor Who as Dr Black
- 2005 · The Magic Roundabout as Dylan (voice)
- 2004 · Enduring Love as Robin
- 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
- 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 · Underworld as Viktor
- 2003 · Canterbury Tales as James
- 2003 · Love Actually as Billy Mack
- 2003 · State of Play as Cameron Foster
- 2003 · I Capture the Castle as James Mortmain
- 2003 · The Lost Prince as Stamfordham
- 2002 · Timeshift as self (voice)
- 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
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 1999 · Guest House Paradiso as Mr. Johnson
- 1999 · People Like Us as Will Rushmore
- 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 · Testament: The Bible in Animation as Belshazzar (voice)
- 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
- 1991 · Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Antonia and Jane as Howard Nash
- 1990 · Making News as Sam Courtney
- 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
- 1985 · Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil as Helmut Hoffmann
- 1984 · The Little Drummer Girl as Al
- 1983 · Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Jeffrey Grainger
- 1983 · Reilly: Ace of Spies as Goschen
- 1983 · Curse of the Pink Panther as ENT Doctor
- 1981 · Eye of the Needle as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
- 1980 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Officer
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1979 · Minder as Oates
- 1979 · Agony as Vincent Fish
- 1974 · Playhouse as Bruno
- Future · Caine as
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Death Watch as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
- Future · California Avenue as Jerry
- 2026 · Bulk as The Voice
- 2025 · This Is the Beginning as
- 2024 · Kent: Garden of England as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · Darkling as
- 2023 · Spectre of the Bear as Bennett (voice)
- 2023 · Bloody Fury as Bloody's Consciousness (voice)
- 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)
- 2020 · Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular as Self
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: Skylight as Tom Sergeant
- 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)
- 2011 · Astonish Me as The Professor
- 2011 · Real Creatures of Dirt as Self / Rattlesnake Jake
- 2011 · The Man with the Stolen Heart as Narrator
- 2009 · The Big Art Project as Narrator
- 2007 · Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz as Self
- 2006 · We Love Cigarettes as Narrator
- 2006 · Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener 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 · Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as Self
- 2004 · Bottom Mindless Violence as Mr. Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2004 · Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews as Self - Narrator
- 2004 · Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
- 2003 · Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates as
- 2002 · Lawless Heart as Dan
- 1999 · The Bass Player as
- 1996 · Alive and Kicking as Tristan
- 1993 · The Maitlands as Roger Maitland
- 1982 · Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan
- Future · Heart of Darkness as (voice)
- 1982 · Under the Skin as Dave
- Future · Ibelin as Mats Steen
- 1980 · Standing in for Henry as Bruno
- 1980 · Dreams of Leaving as William
- 1979 · Deasey (Desperate) as Deasy
- 1976 · Occupy! as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
- Future · The Turning Door as (voice)
- Future · Welcome to Paradise as Hooker Duck Host (voice)
- 1978 · Soldiers Talking, Cleanly as Bill
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dave
- Future · A Town in Nova Scotia as Leon