Bill Nighy
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).
Movies (132)
500 Miles
2026
Bulk
2026
Shelter
2026
& Sons
2025
This Is the Beginning
2025
That Christmas
2024
Joy
2024
The Wild Robot
2024
Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue
2024
10 Lives
2024
The First Omen
2024
The Beautiful Game
2024
Role Play
2023
Darkling
2023
Spectre of the Bear
2023
Bloody Fury
2023
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
2022
Living
2022
Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens
2021
Lotus: A New Dawn
2021
Buckley's Chance
2021
Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular
2020
Minamata
2020
Emma.
2020
The Kindness of Strangers
2019
StarDog and TurboCat
2019
Hope Gap
2019
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
2019
Sometimes Always Never
2019
The Bookshop
2017
Red Nose Day Actually
2017
Their Finest
2017
The Limehouse Golem
2016
Dad's Army
2016
Norm of the North
2016
A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman
2015
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2015
Pride
2014
National Theatre Live: Skylight
2014
Salting the Battlefield
2014
Turks & Caicos
2014
I, Frankenstein
2014
About Time
2013
The World's End
2013
The Hungry Corpse
2013
Great White Shark
2013
Jack the Giant Slayer
2013
Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene
2013
London: The Modern Babylon
2012
Total Recall
2012
Wrath of the Titans
2012
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012
Arthur Christmas
2011
Page Eight
2011
Astonish Me
2011
Real Creatures of Dirt
2011
The Man with the Stolen Heart
2011
Rango
2011
Chalet Girl
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
Wild Target
2010
Glorious 39
2009
Astro Boy
2009
G-Force
2009
The Boat That Rocked
2009
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
2009
Valkyrie
2008
Slapper
2008
Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz
2007
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2007
Hot Fuzz
2007
Notes on a Scandal
2006
Flushed Away
2006
Stormbreaker
2006
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2006
We Love Cigarettes
2006
Underworld: Evolution
2006
Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener
2006
Gideon's Daughter
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'
2005
The Constant Gardener
2005
Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
2005
The Girl in the Café
2005
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005
The Magic Roundabout
2005
Bottom Mindless Violence
2004
Enduring Love
2004
Ready When You Are, Mr McGill
2004
Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews
2004
Shaun of the Dead
2004
Burst
2004
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher
2003
The Young Visiters
2003
Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates
2003
Underworld
2003
Love Actually
2003
I Capture the Castle
2003
Lawless Heart
2002
AKA
2002
Lucky Break
2001
Blow Dry
2001
Longitude
2000
Guest House Paradiso
1999
Still Crazy
1998
FairyTale: A True Story
1997
True Blue
1996
Alive and Kicking
1996
Being Human
1994
The Maitlands
1993
Don't Leave Me This Way
1993
Unnatural Causes
1993
A Masculine Ending
1992
Absolute Hell
1991
Antonia and Jane
1990
The Phantom of the Opera
1989
Mack the Knife
1989
Thirteen at Dinner
1985
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
1985
The Little Drummer Girl
1984
Curse of the Pink Panther
1983
Easter 2016
1982
Under the Skin
1982
Eye of the Needle
1981
Standing in for Henry
1980
Little Lord Fauntleroy
1980
Death Watch
1980
Dreams of Leaving
1980
Deasey (Desperate)
1979
Soldiers Talking, Cleanly
1978
Occupy!
1976
Welcome to Paradise
Heart of Darkness
TV Shows (47)
Harlan Coben's Lazarus
2025
Kent: Garden of England
2024
Norfolk & Suffolk: Coast & Country
2023
LIGHT & MAGIC
2022
The Man Who Fell to Earth
2022
Iberia's Woodlands: Life on the Edge
2021
Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty
2021
World's Most Scenic River Journeys
2021
Natural History Museum: World of Wonder
2021
World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys
2019
Ordeal by Innocence
2018
Castlevania
2017
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
10 Minute Tales
2009
Live from Studio Five
2009
Meerkat Manor
2005
Doctor Who
2005
He Knew He Was Right
2004
Grumpy Old Men
2003
Canterbury Tales
2003
State of Play
2003
The Lost Prince
2003
Timeshift
2002
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
2002
Richard & Judy
2001
Black Books
2000
Longitude
2000
People Like Us
1999
Parkinson
1998
Testament: The Bible in Animation
1996
Kavanagh Q.C.
1995
Wycliffe
1994
Peak Practice
1993
Eye of the Storm
1993
Performance
1991
Performance
1991
Chillers
1990
South of the Border
1988
This Morning
1988
The Last Place on Earth
1985
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
1983
Reilly: Ace of Spies
1983
Fox
1980
Minder
1979
Agony
1979
Playhouse
1974
Play for Today
1970