Bill Nighy

Born: 1949-12-12 in Caterham, Surrey, England, UK

Known For: Acting

Biography

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).

Filmography

2026

Shelter as Manafort
500 Miles
& Sons as Andrew
Bulk as The Voice

2025

Harlan Coben's Lazarus as Doctor Lazarus 'Dr L'
This Is the Beginning

2024

The Wild Robot as Longneck (voice)
The First Omen as Cardinal Lawrence
That Christmas as Lighthouse Bill (voice)
10 Lives as Professor Craven (voice)
Joy as Patrick Steptoe
The Beautiful Game as Mal
Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue as Conrad (voice)
Kent: Garden of England as Self - Narrator (voice)

2023

Role Play as Bob
Norfolk & Suffolk: Coast & Country as Self - Narrator (voice)
Darkling
Bloody Fury as Bloody's Consciousness (voice)
Spectre of the Bear as Bennett (voice)

2022

LIGHT & MAGIC as Self (archive footage)
The Man Who Fell to Earth as Thomas Jerome Newton
Living as Williams
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special as Self

2021

Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty as Self - Narrator (voice)
World's Most Scenic River Journeys as Self - Narrator (voice)
Buckley's Chance as Spencer
Lotus: A New Dawn as Self - Narrator (voice)
Iberia's Woodlands: Life on the Edge as Self - Narrator (voice)
Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens as Self - Narrator (voice)

2020

Emma. as Mr. Woodhouse
Minamata as Robert "Bob" Hayes
Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular as Self

2019

Pokémon Detective Pikachu as Howard Clifford
World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)
Hope Gap as Edward
The Kindness of Strangers as Timofey
StarDog and TurboCat as Sinclair (voice)
Sometimes Always Never as Alan

2018

Ordeal by Innocence as Leo Argyll

2017

Castlevania as Saint Germain (voice)
Their Finest as Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
The Bookshop as Mr. Brundish
Red Nose Day Actually as Billy Mack

2016

Dad's Army as Sergeant Wilson
The Limehouse Golem as John Kildare
Norm of the North as Socrates (voice)

2015

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman as Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas'

2014

Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
I, Frankenstein as Naberius
Pride as Cliff
Turks & Caicos as Johnny Worricker
Salting the Battlefield as Johnny Worricker
National Theatre Live: Skylight as Tom Sergeant

2013

About Time as Dad
Jack the Giant Slayer as General Fallon
The World's End as The Network (voice)
Great White Shark as Self - Narrator (voice)
Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene as Graham Greene (voice)
The Hungry Corpse as The Hungry Corpse

2012

Wrath of the Titans as Hephaestus
Total Recall as Matthias
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
London: The Modern Babylon as Spoken Quotations (voice)

2011

Rango as Rattlesnake Jake (voice)
Arthur Christmas as Grandsanta (voice)
Chalet Girl as Richard Madsen
Page Eight as Johnny Worricker
Real Creatures of Dirt as Self / Rattlesnake Jake
Astonish Me as The Professor
The Man with the Stolen Heart as Narrator

2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as Rufus Scrimgeour
Wild Target as Victor Maynard

2009

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans as Viktor
G-Force as Leonard Saber
Astro Boy as Dr. Elefun / Robotsky (voice)
The Boat That Rocked as Quentin
10 Minute Tales as Mr Jellaby
Glorious 39 as Alexander Keyes
Live from Studio Five as Self
The Big Art Project as Narrator

2008

Valkyrie as Friedrich Olbricht
Slapper as Arnold Percy

2004

Shaun of the Dead as Phillip
He Knew He Was Right as Colonel Osborne
Enduring Love as Robin
Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
Ready When You Are, Mr McGill as Phil Parish
Bottom Mindless Violence as Mr. Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews as Self - Narrator

2003

Love Actually as Billy Mack
Underworld as Viktor
State of Play as Cameron Foster
Canterbury Tales as James
The Young Visiters as Earl of Clincham
The Lost Prince as Stamfordham
Grumpy Old Men as Self
I Capture the Castle as James Mortmain
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher as Self - Narrator
Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates

2002

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as Lockwood
Timeshift as self (voice)
AKA as Uncle Louis Gryffoyn
Lawless Heart as Dan

2001

Richard & Judy as Self
Blow Dry as Ray Robertson
Lucky Break as Roger

2000

Black Books as Man at bar
Longitude as Lord Sandwich
Longitude as Lord Sandwich

1999

People Like Us as Will Rushmore
Guest House Paradiso as Mr. Johnson
The Bass Player

1998

Parkinson as Self
Still Crazy as Ray Simms

1997

FairyTale: A True Story as Edward Gardner

1996

Testament: The Bible in Animation as Belshazzar (voice)
True Blue as Jeremy Saville
Alive and Kicking as Tristan

1995

Kavanagh Q.C. as Giles Culpepper QC

1994

Wycliffe as David Cleeve
Being Human as Julian

1993

Peak Practice as Alan Sinclair
Eye of the Storm as Tom Frewen
Don't Leave Me This Way as John Tracey
Unnatural Causes as Oliver Latham
The Maitlands as Roger Maitland

1992

A Masculine Ending as John Tracey

1991

Performance as Roger Maitland
Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner

1990

Chillers as Tom Dickenson
Making News as Sam Courtney
Antonia and Jane as Howard Nash

1989

The Phantom of the Opera as Martin Barton
Mack the Knife as Tiger Brown

1988

South of the Border as Tony Freason
This Morning as Self

1985

The Last Place on Earth as Cecil Meares
Thirteen at Dinner as Ronald Marsh
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil as Helmut Hoffmann

1984

The Little Drummer Girl as Al

1983

Reilly: Ace of Spies as Goschen
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Jeffrey Grainger
Curse of the Pink Panther as ENT Doctor

1982

Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan
Under the Skin as Dave

1981

Eye of the Needle as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop

1980

Fox as Colin Street
Little Lord Fauntleroy as Officer
Death Watch as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
Fox as Colin Street
Dreams of Leaving as William
Standing in for Henry as Bruno

1979

Minder as Oates
Agony as Vincent Fish
Deasey (Desperate) as Deasy

1978

Soldiers Talking, Cleanly as Bill

1976

Occupy! as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool

1974

Playhouse as Bruno

1970

Play for Today as Dave