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 · & Sons as Andrew
- 2026 · 500 Miles as
- 2026 · Bulk as The Voice
- 2026 · Shelter as Manafort
- 2025 · Harlan Coben's Lazarus as Doctor Lazarus 'Dr L'
- 2024 · Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue as Conrad (voice)
- 2024 · The Beautiful Game as Mal
- 2023 · Bloody Fury as Bloody's Consciousness (voice)
- 2021 · Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · World's Most Scenic River Journeys as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · The Kindness of Strangers as Timofey
- 2019 · StarDog and TurboCat as Sinclair (voice)
- 2019 · World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)
- 2016 · The Limehouse Golem as John Kildare
- 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)
- 2010 · Wild Target as Victor Maynard
- 2009 · Glorious 39 as Alexander Keyes
- 2008 · Slapper as Arnold Percy
- 2005 · Gideon's Daughter as Gideon Warner
- 2005 · The Girl in the Café as Lawrence
- 2004 · Bottom Mindless Violence as Mr. Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2004 · Enduring Love as Robin
- 2004 · Ready When You Are, Mr McGill as Phil Parish
- 2004 · Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Earl of Clincham
- 2003 · I Capture the Castle as James Mortmain
- 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 · True Blue as Jeremy Saville
- 1996 · Alive and Kicking as Tristan
- 1994 · Being Human as Julian
- 1993 · Eye of the Storm as Tom Frewen
- 1991 · Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Making News as Sam Courtney
- 1989 · Mack the Knife as Tiger Brown
- 1985 · Thirteen at Dinner as Ronald Marsh
- 1985 · Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil as Helmut Hoffmann
- 1984 · The Little Drummer Girl as Al
- 1982 · Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Death Watch as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
- 1978 · Soldiers Talking, Cleanly as Bill
- Future · The Turning Door as (voice)
- 2025 · This Is the Beginning as
- 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 · 10 Lives as Professor Craven (voice)
- 2024 · The First Omen as Cardinal Lawrence
- 2023 · Role Play as Bob
- 2023 · Darkling as
- 2023 · Spectre of the Bear as Bennett (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 · Buckley's Chance as Spencer
- 2020 · Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular as Self
- 2020 · Minamata as Robert "Bob" Hayes
- 2020 · Emma. as Mr. Woodhouse
- 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 · Dad's Army as Sergeant Wilson
- 2016 · Norm of the North as Socrates (voice)
- 2014 · Pride as Cliff
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: Skylight as Tom Sergeant
- 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 · The Hungry Corpse as The Hungry Corpse
- 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 · 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 · Astonish Me as The Professor
- 2011 · Real Creatures of Dirt as Self / Rattlesnake Jake
- 2011 · The Man with the Stolen Heart as Narrator
- 2011 · Rango as Rattlesnake Jake (voice)
- 2011 · Chalet Girl as Richard Madsen
- 2010 · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as Rufus Scrimgeour
- 2009 · 10 Minute Tales as Mr Jellaby
- 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
- 2007 · Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz as Self
- 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 · We Love Cigarettes as Narrator
- 2006 · Underworld: Evolution as Viktor
- 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
- 2003 · Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher as Self - Narrator
- 2003 · Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates as
- 2002 · Lawless Heart as Dan
- 1993 · The Maitlands as Roger Maitland
- 1993 · Don't Leave Me This Way as John Tracey
- Future · Heart of Darkness as (voice)
- 2006 · Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener as Self
- 2005 · Meerkat Manor as Narrator
- 2005 · The Constant Gardener as Sir Bernard Pellegrin
- 2005 · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Slartibartfast
- 2005 · Doctor Who as Dr Black
- 2005 · The Magic Roundabout as Dylan (voice)
- 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
- 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 · 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
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 1999 · The Bass Player as
- 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
- 1993 · Unnatural Causes as Oliver Latham
- 1992 · A Masculine Ending as John Tracey
- 1991 · Performance as Roger Maitland
- 1991 · Performance as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Antonia and Jane as Howard Nash
- 1990 · Chillers as Tom Dickenson
- 1989 · The Phantom of the Opera as Martin Barton
- 1988 · South of the Border as Tony Freason
- 1988 · This Morning as Self
- 1985 · The Last Place on Earth as Cecil Meares
- 1983 · Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Jeffrey Grainger
- 1983 · Reilly: Ace of Spies as Goschen
- 1983 · Curse of the Pink Panther as ENT Doctor
- 1982 · Under the Skin as Dave
- 1981 · Eye of the Needle as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
- 1980 · Standing in for Henry as Bruno
- 1980 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Officer
- 1980 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Dreams of Leaving as William
- 1979 · Minder as Oates
- 1979 · Agony as Vincent Fish
- 1976 · Occupy! as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
- 1974 · Playhouse as Bruno
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dave
- Future · California Avenue as Jerry
- 1979 · Deasey (Desperate) as Deasy
- Future · Welcome to Paradise as Hooker Duck Host (voice)
- Future · A Town in Nova Scotia as Leon