| Billy
Nighy, which “rhymes with sigh but forget the y”, is one of those English
actors that you might not know by name but you will recognize as a consistently
grand thespian, capable of both high comedy and intense drama in such diverse
roles as Howard Nash in “Antonia and Jane”, Ray Robertson in “Blow Dry”,
“Edward Gardner in “Fairy Tale: A True Story”, Ray Simms in the uproarious
“Still Crazy”, James Mortmain in “I Capture The Castle”, Billy Mack in
“Love Actually” (a favourite of mine in which he sang the hit song “Christmas
Is All Around”), Viktor in “Underworld” and “Underworld: Evolution”, Slartibartfast
in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”, Philip in “Shaun of the Dead”,
Sir Bernard Pellegrin in “The Constant Gardener”, Alan Blunt in “Alex Rider:
Operation Stormbreaker”, Richard Hart in “Notes On A Scandal”, Met Chief
Inspector in “Hot Fuzz” and the unforgettably, slimy, tentacle-laden Davy
Jones in the unprecedented blockbusters, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead
Man’s Chest” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”.
William
Francis Nighy was born in Catterham, Surrey, England on December 12, 1949
to a garage-managing father, Alfred, and psychiatric nurse mother, Catherine,
who also had an older son and daughter. The intensely humorous, English
Literature-loving, 6’2”, blond, blue-eyed, slender, pale Bill dreamt of
being a journalist (“I am a world-class procrastinator. I'm only an actor
because I've been putting off being a writer for 35 years.”) but didn’t
have the credentials; tried to write the great novel in Paris but only
got as far as the title ("The British consul shipped me home for 25 quid
and I had to pay my father back, he was a wee bit cross."); and eventually
on the advice of an old girlfriend trained at the Guildford School of Dance
and Drama (“I got briefly mistaken for someone who might be good in bed,
which was very, very good.") and has never looked back. In 1975 he
was a member of the Everyman Theatre Company with Julie Walters, Pete Postlethwaite
and Jonathan Pryce. His long-time partner, actress Diana Quick, is
the mother of his adult daughter Mary Nighy who is working as an actor
herself.
Endearing,
socially awkward Bill has worked consistently in film and television (many
BBC productions) and on stage (he starred in “The Vertical Hour” on Broadway
earlier this year to critical acclaim) and radio. In fact, according
to www.imdb.com, his Sam Gamgee and Ian Holm’s Frodo in the original BBC
radio production of “The Lord Of The Rings” inspired Peter Jackson to give
that version to every actor in his films who hadn’t read the books.
Bill also gave a voice to Long John Silver in the 1997 animated version
of “Treasure Island”, to Dylan in “Doogal” (a.k.a. “The Magic Roundabout”
- 2005) and to Whitey in DreamWorks’ 2006 hit and BAFTA nominee, “Flushed
Away”. Bill’s fabulously, distinctive British accent has garnered
him a separate mini-career reading audio books for SilkSoundBooks.com.
He’s currently reading The Dupin Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe and while
some would call him the “thinking woman’s crumpet”, he considers himself
to be the “drinking woman’s crumpet”. Bill drinks mostly tea these
days as he tends to enjoy alcohol a little bit too much.
The
charming, slightly devious Bill’s fans are steadfast and true, witnessed
by The Official Bill Nighy Experience at www.billnighy.net
and Bill Nighy Info at www.billnighy.info
where I discovered delightful tidbits about his love for The Rolling Stones
and fanatical devotion to Bob Dylan; the fact that while he loves New York,
his spiritual home is the Coco Chanel suite in The Ritz in Paris; and he
would love to travel Europe by train so that he could visit the big European
football (soccer) clubs and watch their matches even though Crystal Palace
is his team.
Award-winning
performances are nothing new for the habitually navy-blue suit wearing
Nighy who won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Sleazebag for Davy Jones in
“Dead Man’s Chest”; Satellite Awards for director Stephen Poliakoff’s “The
Lost Prince” and “Gideon’s Daughter”; four Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Awards for Best Supporting Actor for “Lawless Heart”, “AKA”, “I Capture
The Castle” and “Love Actually”; the London Critics Circle Film Award
for Best Supporting Actor for 2003 for “Love Actually”; two Evening Standard
British Film Awards (Peter Sellers Award for Comedy) for “Still Crazy”
and “Love Actually”; a Broadcasting Press Guild Award for 2003’s “State
Of Play”; a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for “State Of Play” and a BAFTA
Film Award (the equivalent of Britain’s Oscar) for “Love Actually”.
Bill’s brilliant portrayal of the emotionally repressed Lawrence in Richard
Curtis’ gorgeous movie “The Girl In The Café” opposite Kelly Macdonald,
earned him his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an
Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television in 2006
(I fell for him big time in that one!) and he won the same award this year
for “Gideon’s Daughter”, again co-starring with the enigmatic Miranda Richardson
of “The Lost Prince”.
"My
sort of dirty secret is that I have no process," he says. "I can't do the
stuff suggested in drama school - re-creating the emotional state the character
was in. I've tried, but I can't. I have no method." - Bill Nighy
Currently
filming Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie” with an all-star cast including Tom Cruise,
Stephen Fry, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terrence Stamp and Eddie Izzard,
it is my humble opinion that it won’t be long before darling, self-deprecating
Bill Nighy adds that little gold man to his most impressive collection. |