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).
Movie | The First Omen | Cardinal Lawrence | 2024-04-03 |
Movie | The Beautiful Game | Mal | 2024-03-22 |
Movie | Bloody Fury | Bloody's Consciousness (voice) | 2023-09-23 |
Movie | Minamata | Robert "Bob" Hayes | 2020-03-13 |
Movie | Pokémon Detective Pikachu | Howard Clifford | 2019-05-03 |
Movie | StarDog and TurboCat | Sinclair (voice) | 2019-12-06 |
Series | Ordeal by Innocence | Leo Argyll | 2018-04-01 |
Movie | Their Finest | Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank | 2017-02-19 |
Movie | The Bookshop | Mr. Brundish | 2017-11-10 |
Movie | Red Nose Day Actually | Billy Mack | 2017-03-24 |
Movie | Dad's Army | Sergeant Wilson | 2016-02-05 |
Movie | Norm of the North | Socrates (voice) | 2016-01-14 |
Movie | The Limehouse Golem | John Kildare | 2016-10-18 |
Movie | The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Douglas Ainslie | 2015-02-26 |
Movie | A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman | Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas' | 2015-12-26 |
Movie | I, Frankenstein | Naberius | 2014-01-22 |
Series | Late Night with Seth Meyers | Self | 2014-02-25 |
Movie | Turks & Caicos | Johnny Worricker | 2014-03-20 |
Movie | Pride | Cliff | 2014-09-12 |
Movie | National Theatre Live: Skylight | Tom Sergeant | 2014-07-24 |
Movie | Salting the Battlefield | Johnny Worricker | 2014-03-27 |
Movie | Jack the Giant Slayer | General Fallon | 2013-02-27 |
Movie | About Time | Dad | 2013-09-04 |
Movie | The World's End | The Network (voice) | 2013-07-18 |
Movie | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Douglas Ainslie | 2012-02-23 |
Movie | Wrath of the Titans | Hephaestus | 2012-03-28 |
Movie | London: The Modern Babylon | Spoken Quotations (voice) | 2012-08-03 |
Movie | Total Recall | Matthias | 2012-08-02 |
Movie | Chalet Girl | Richard Madsen | 2011-02-02 |
Movie | Astonish Me | The Professor | 2011-07-26 |
Movie | Rango | Rattlesnake Jake (voice) | 2011-03-02 |
Movie | Page Eight | Johnny Worricker | 2011-08-28 |
Movie | Arthur Christmas | Grandsanta (voice) | 2011-11-10 |
Movie | Wild Target | Victor Maynard | 2010-06-17 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 | Rufus Scrimgeour | 2010-11-17 |
Movie | The Boat That Rocked | Quentin | 2009-04-01 |
Movie | Underworld: Rise of the Lycans | Viktor | 2009-01-22 |
Movie | G-Force | Leonard Saber | 2009-07-24 |
Series | Live from Studio Five | Self | 2009-09-14 |
Movie | Glorious 39 | Alexander Keyes | 2009-11-20 |
Movie | Astro Boy | Dr. Elefun (voice) | 2009-10-15 |
Movie | Slapper | Arnold Percy | 2008-06-21 |
Movie | A Fox's Tale | Ringmaster (voice) | 2008-04-17 |
Movie | Valkyrie | Friedrich Olbricht | 2008-12-25 |
Movie | Killers Kill, Dead Men Die | The Preacher | 2007-03-13 |
Movie | Hot Fuzz | Met Chief Inspector | 2007-02-14 |
Movie | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Davy Jones | 2007-05-19 |
Movie | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Davy Jones | 2006-07-06 |
Movie | Stormbreaker | Alan Blunt | 2006-07-21 |
Movie | We Love Cigarettes | Narrator | 2006-06-29 |
Movie | Underworld: Evolution | Viktor | 2006-01-12 |
Movie | Notes on a Scandal | Richard Hart | 2006-12-25 |
Series | The One Show | Self | 2006-08-14 |
Movie | Flushed Away | Whitey (voice) | 2006-10-22 |
Movie | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Slartibartfast | 2005-04-28 |
Series | Doctor Who | Dr Black | 2005-03-26 |
Movie | The Magic Roundabout | Dylan (voice) | 2005-02-02 |
Movie | The Girl in the Café | Lawrence | 2005-06-25 |
Movie | The Constant Gardener | Sir Bernard Pellegrin | 2005-08-31 |
Movie | Gideon's Daughter | Gideon Warner | 2005-10-21 |
Movie | Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' | Self | 2005-07-05 |
Movie | The Lost Prince | Stamfordham | 2005-12-18 |
Series | He Knew He Was Right | Colonel Osborne | 2004-04-18 |
Movie | Shaun of the Dead | Phillip | 2004-04-09 |
Movie | Enduring Love | Robin | 2004-10-29 |
Movie | State of Play | Cameron Foster | 2003-05-18 |
Movie | Love Actually | Billy Mack | 2003-09-07 |
Movie | I Capture the Castle | James Mortmain | 2003-05-09 |
Movie | Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher | Narrator | 2003-12-29 |
Movie | The Young Visiters | Earl of Clincham | 2003-12-26 |
Series | Canterbury Tales | James | 2003-09-11 |
Movie | AKA | Uncle Louis Gryffoyn | 2002-01-19 |
Series | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Lockwood | 2002-04-08 |
Movie | Lawless Heart | Dan | 2002-06-28 |
Movie | Blow Dry | Ray Robertson | 2001-03-01 |
Movie | Lucky Break | Roger | 2001-08-24 |
Series | Richard & Judy | Self | 2001-11-26 |
Movie | Longitude | Lord Sandwich | 2000-01-02 |
Series | People Like Us | Will Rushmore | 1999-09-20 |
Movie | Guest House Paradiso | Mr. Johnson | 1999-12-03 |
Movie | FairyTale: A True Story | Edward Gardner | 1997-10-24 |
Movie | Alive and Kicking | Tristan | 1996-11-08 |
Movie | True Blue | Jeremy Saville | 1996-11-15 |
Series | Kavanagh Q.C. | Giles Culpepper QC | 1995-01-03 |
Movie | Being Human | Julian | 1994-05-06 |
Series | Peak Practice | Alan Sinclair | 1993-05-10 |
Movie | Don't Leave Me This Way | John Tracey | 1993-05-30 |
Movie | A Masculine Ending | John Tracey | 1992-04-12 |
Movie | Absolute Hell | Hugh Marriner | 1991-10-05 |
Movie | Antonia and Jane | Howard Nash | 1990-01-01 |
Series | Chillers | Tom Dickenson | 1990-04-14 |
Movie | The Phantom of the Opera | Martin Barton | 1989-11-04 |
Movie | Mack the Knife | Tiger Brown | 1989-11-01 |
Movie | Hitler's SS : Portrait In Evil | Helmut Hoffmann | 1985-02-17 |
Movie | Thirteen at Dinner | Ronald Marsh | 1985-09-19 |
Series | The Last Place on Earth | Cecil Meares | 1985-02-18 |
Movie | The Little Drummer Girl | Al | 1984-10-19 |
Series | Reilly: Ace of Spies | Goschen | 1983-09-05 |
Series | Auf Wiedersehen, Pet | Jeffrey Grainger | 1983-11-11 |
Movie | Easter 2016 | Connor Mullan | 1982-05-18 |
Movie | Eye of the Needle | Squadron Leader Blenkinsop | 1981-07-24 |
Series | Bergerac | Barry | 1981-10-18 |
Series | Fox | Colin Street | 1980-03-10 |
Movie | Death Watch | Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited) | 1980-01-23 |
Movie | Little Lord Fauntleroy | Officer | 1980-12-01 |
Series | Agony | Vincent Fish | 1979-03-11 |
Series | Minder | Oates | 1979-10-29 |
Movie | Occupy! | Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool | 1976-01-01 |
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