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

2025

Harlan Coben's Lazarus as Doctor Lazarus 'Dr L'
& Sons as Andrew
Bulk as (voice)
This Is the Beginning

2024

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

2023

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

2022

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

2021

Buckley's Chance as Spencer
Lotus: A New Dawn as Self - Narrator (voice)
Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty as Self - Narrator (voice)
World's Most Scenic River Journeys 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
StarDog and TurboCat as Sinclair (voice)
Hope Gap as Edward
The Kindness of Strangers as Timofey
Sometimes Always Never as Alan
World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)

2018

Ordeal by Innocence as Leo Argyll

2017

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

2016

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

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
Pride as Cliff
I, Frankenstein as Naberius
Salting the Battlefield as Johnny Worricker
Turks & Caicos as Johnny Worricker
National Theatre Live: Skylight as Tom Sergeant

2013

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

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

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

2010

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

2009

Astro Boy as Dr. Elefun / Robotsky (voice)
The Boat That Rocked as Quentin
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans as Viktor
Glorious 39 as Alexander Keyes
G-Force as Leonard Saber
10 Minute Tales
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
The Magic Roundabout as Dylan (voice)
Enduring Love as Robin
Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews as Self - Narrator
Ready When You Are, Mr McGill as Phil Parish
He Knew He Was Right as Colonel Osborne
Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
Bottom Mindless Violence as Mr. Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)

2003

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

2002

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

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

1998

Parkinson as Self
Still Crazy as Ray Simms

1997

FairyTale: A True Story as Edward Gardner

1996

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

1995

Kavanagh Q.C. as Giles Culpepper QC

1994

Wycliffe as David Cleeve
Being Human as Julian

1993

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

1992

A Masculine Ending as John Tracey
Chillers as Tom Dickenson

1991

Performance as Roger Maitland
Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner

1990

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

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

1984

The Little Drummer Girl as Al

1983

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

1982

Under the Skin as Dave
Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan

1981

Eye of the Needle as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop

1980

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

1979

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

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