
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
- 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
- 2022 · Living as Williams
- 2022 · LIGHT & MAGIC as Self (archive footage)
- 2022 · The Man Who Fell to Earth as Thomas Jerome Newton
- 2020 · Emma. as Mr. Woodhouse
- 2019 · The Kindness of Strangers as Timofey
- 2019 · StarDog and TurboCat as Sinclair (voice)
- 2019 · Pokémon Detective Pikachu as Howard Clifford
- 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
- 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'
- 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 · Jack the Giant Slayer as General Fallon
- 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)
- 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 · 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
- 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 · The One Show as Self
- 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 · The Constant Gardener as Sir Bernard Pellegrin
- 2005 · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Slartibartfast
- 2005 · Doctor Who as Dr Black
- 2004 · The Magic Roundabout as Dylan (voice)
- 2004 · Shaun of the Dead as Phillip
- 2004 · Burst as Maxwell's Fan 22
- 2003 · Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher as Self - Narrator
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Earl of Clincham
- 2003 · Underworld as Viktor
- 2003 · Love Actually as Billy Mack
- 2003 · State of Play as Cameron Foster
- 2003 · I Capture the Castle as James Mortmain
- 2002 · Timeshift as self (voice)
- 2002 · The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as Lockwood
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2001 · Blow Dry as Ray Robertson
- 2000 · Black Books as Man at bar
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 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 · Alive and Kicking as Tristan
- 1995 · Kavanagh Q.C. as Giles Culpepper QC
- 1994 · Wycliffe as David Cleeve
- 1993 · Peak Practice as Alan Sinclair
- 1992 · A Masculine Ending as John Tracey
- 1991 · Performance as Roger Maitland
- 1991 · Performance as Hugh Marriner
- 1989 · The Phantom of the Opera as Martin Barton
- 1988 · South Of The Border as Tony Freason
- 1985 · Thirteen at Dinner as Ronald Marsh
- 1983 · Reilly: Ace of Spies as Goschen
- 1983 · Curse of the Pink Panther as ENT Doctor
- 1979 · Minder as Oates
- 1978 · Soldiers Talking, Cleanly as Bill
- 1974 · Playhouse as Bruno
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dave
- Future · Heart of Darkness as (voice)
- 2026 · Shelter as
- 2025 · Bulk as (voice)
- 2023 · Bloody Fury as Bloody's Consciousness (voice)
- 2019 · World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys as Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · Hope Gap as Edward
- 2019 · Sometimes Always Never as Alan
- 2017 · Their Finest as Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
- 2015 · The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as Douglas Ainslie
- 2014 · Salting the Battlefield as Johnny Worricker
- 2012 · London: The Modern Babylon as Spoken Quotations (voice)
- 2011 · Real Creatures of Dirt as Self / Rattlesnake Jake
- 2011 · Chalet Girl as Richard Madsen
- 2009 · 10 Minute Tales as
- 2007 · Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz 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 · Meerkat Manor as Narrator
- 2004 · Enduring Love as Robin
- 2004 · Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews as Self - Narrator
- 2004 · He Knew He Was Right as Colonel Osborne
- 2003 · Grumpy Old Men as Self
- 2003 · The Lost Prince as Stamfordham
- 2001 · Lucky Break as Roger
- 1999 · Guest House Paradiso as Mr. Johnson
- 1999 · The Bass Player as
- 1999 · People Like Us as Will Rushmore
- 1996 · Testament: The Bible in Animation as Belshazzar (voice)
- 1994 · Being Human as Julian
- 1993 · Don't Leave Me This Way as John Tracey
- 1993 · Unnatural Causes as Oliver Latham
- 1989 · Mack the Knife as Tiger Brown
- 1988 · This Morning as Self
- 1985 · The Last Place on Earth as Cecil Meares
- 1984 · The Little Drummer Girl as Al
- 1983 · Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Jeffrey Grainger
- 1982 · Easter 2016 as Connor Mullan
- 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 · Fox as Colin Street
- 1980 · Death Watch as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
- 1979 · Deasey (Desperate) as Deasy
- 1979 · Agony as Vincent Fish
- 1976 · Occupy! as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
- Future · 500 Miles as
- 2025 · Lazarus as
- 2024 · Kent: Garden of England as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · Darkling as
- 2022 · The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special as Self
- 2021 · Iberia's Woodlands: Life on the Edge as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · Minamata as Robert "Bob" Hayes
- 1990 · Chillers as Tom Dickenson
- Future · Ride or Die as The Director
- 2025 · This is the Beginning as
- 2023 · Spectre of the Bear as Bennett (voice)
- 2023 · Norfolk & Suffolk: Coast & Country as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · Lotus: A New Dawn as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 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)
- 2020 · Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular as Self
- 2014 · Turks & Caicos as Johnny Worricker
- 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
- 2009 · Live from Studio Five as Self
- 2009 · The Big Art Project as Narrator
- 2008 · Slapper as Arnold Percy
- 2006 · We Love Cigarettes as Narrator
- 2006 · Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener as Self
- 2005 · Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as Self
- 2005 · The Girl in the Café as Lawrence
- 2004 · Ready When You Are, Mr McGill as Phil Parish
- 2003 · Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates as
- 2003 · Canterbury Tales as James
- 2002 · Lawless Heart as Dan
- 2002 · AKA as Uncle Louis Gryffoyn
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Sandwich
- 1993 · The Maitlands as Roger Maitland
- 1993 · Eye of the Storm as Tom Frewen
- 1991 · Absolute Hell as Hugh Marriner
- 1990 · Antonia and Jane as Howard Nash
- 1990 · Making News as Sam Courtney
- 1985 · Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil as Helmut Hoffmann
- Future · California Avenue as Jerry
- Future · Welcome to Paradise as Hooker Duck Host (voice)
- 1980 · Dreams of Leaving as William
- Future · Pink Sky at Night as Man