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).
186 acting credits
Acting · 186
Doctor Who
2005
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
Shelter
2026
Minder
1979
Play for Today
1970
Peak Practice
1993
The Wild Robot
2024
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2006
Playhouse
1974
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2007
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
2002
Rango
2011
Richard & Judy
2001
Castlevania
2017
About Time
2013
Performance
1991
Wycliffe
1994
Parkinson
1998
Jack the Giant Slayer
2013
Love Actually
2003
Shaun of the Dead
2004
Kavanagh Q.C.
1995
Hot Fuzz
2007
Flushed Away
2006
Black Books
2000
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
2019
Wrath of the Titans
2012
Timeshift
2002
Underworld
2003
The Man Who Fell to Earth
2022
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
2009
LIGHT & MAGIC
2022
Harlan Coben's Lazarus
2025
Total Recall
2012
Underworld: Evolution
2006
Reilly: Ace of Spies
1983
The World's End
2013
State of Play
2003
Emma.
2020
G-Force
2009
Valkyrie
2008
Chillers
1990
Arthur Christmas
2011
The First Omen
2024
Meerkat Manor
2005
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005
Ordeal by Innocence
2018
Longitude
2000
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
1983
South of the Border
1988
Astro Boy
2009
500 Miles
2026
People Like Us
1999
I, Frankenstein
2014
10 Minute Tales
2009
Fox
1980
Notes on a Scandal
2006
The Constant Gardener
2005
Canterbury Tales
2003
The Boat That Rocked
2009
Agony
1979
10 Lives
2024
Role Play
2023
Stormbreaker
2006
That Christmas
2024
Testament: The Bible in Animation
1996
Hope Gap
2019
Wild Target
2010
Living
2022
He Knew He Was Right
2004
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012
Pride
2014
Joy
2024
The Last Place on Earth
1985
The Lost Prince
2003
The Bookshop
2017
Chalet Girl
2011
Their Finest
2017
Minamata
2020
Blow Dry
2001
Dad's Army
2016
Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty
2021
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2015
World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys
2019
This Morning
1988
FairyTale: A True Story
1997
Norm of the North
2016
World's Most Scenic River Journeys
2021
The Magic Roundabout
2005
The Limehouse Golem
2016
Curse of the Pink Panther
1983
Eye of the Needle
1981
Grumpy Old Men
2003
Little Lord Fauntleroy
1980
Red Nose Day Actually
2017
Page Eight
2011
Eye of the Storm
1993
Longitude
2000
The Beautiful Game
2024
& Sons
2025
Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue
2024
Making News
1990
Thirteen at Dinner
1985
The Kindness of Strangers
2019
Glorious 39
2009
Still Crazy
1998
Turks & Caicos
2014
Bulk
2026
Guest House Paradiso
1999
Gideon's Daughter
2005
Being Human
1994
Death Watch
1980
Salting the Battlefield
2014
Enduring Love
2004
StarDog and TurboCat
2019
I Capture the Castle
2003
A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman
2015
The Little Drummer Girl
1984
Iberia's Woodlands: Life on the Edge
2021
California Avenue
—
AKA
2002
Lucky Break
2001
The Phantom of the Opera
1989
Live from Studio Five
2009
Kent: Garden of England
2024
The Girl in the Café
2005
True Blue
1996
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
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
1985
The Young Visiters
2003
Fox
1980
Lawless Heart
2002
Slapper
2008
Norfolk & Suffolk: Coast & Country
2023
National Theatre Live: Skylight
2014
Heart of Darkness
—
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher
2003
Don't Leave Me This Way
1993
A Masculine Ending
1992
A Town in Nova Scotia
—
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
2022
Sometimes Always Never
2019
Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
2005
Ibelin
—
Mack the Knife
1989
Burst
2004
Alive and Kicking
1996
Buckley's Chance
2021
London: The Modern Babylon
2012
Ready When You Are, Mr McGill
2004
Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz
2007
Astonish Me
2011
Occupy!
1976
Antonia and Jane
1990
Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates
2003
The Maitlands
1993
Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener
2006
Bloody Fury
2023
Easter 2016
1982
Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular
2020
Bottom Mindless Violence
2004
The Turning Door
—
Under the Skin
1982
Absolute Hell
1991
Lotus: A New Dawn
2021
Real Creatures of Dirt
2011
Deasey (Desperate)
1979
Great White Shark
2013
Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene
2013
Natural History Museum: World of Wonder
2021
Unnatural Causes
1993
The Bass Player
1999
The Big Art Project
2009
Standing in for Henry
1980
The Man with the Stolen Heart
2011
Spectre of the Bear
2023
Soldiers Talking, Cleanly
1978
The Hungry Corpse
2013
Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens
2021
Welcome to Paradise
—
Dreams of Leaving
1980
Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews
2004
This Is the Beginning
2025
Darkling
2023
We Love Cigarettes
2006