Bill Nighy
Known for Acting · 192 credits
- Born
- 1949-12-12 (age 76)
- Place of birth
- Caterham, Surrey, England, UK
- Also known as
- William Francis Nighy · ויליאם פרנסיס "ביל" ניי
Biography
William Francis Nighy (/naɪ/; born 12 December 1949) is a British actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received various accolades, including two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
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. 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 Chekhov's The Seagull in 1994. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his role in Blue/Orange in 2001. He acted on Broadway in the David Hare plays The Vertical Hour (2006) and Skylight (2015), earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for the latter.
Nighy's early film roles include the comedies Still Crazy (1998), Guest House Paradiso (1999) and Blow Dry (2001). He rose to international stardom with his role in Love Actually (2003), for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He went on to portray Viktor in the Underworld film series (2003–2009) and Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2006–2007). His 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), Wild Target (2010), 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 which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Nighy has gained acclaim for his television roles, earning a BAFTA Award for his role in the BBC One series State of Play (2003), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the BBC film Gideon's Daughter (2007). He is also known for his roles in The Girl in the Café (2006), the BBC's Worricker trilogy, which includes Page Eight (2012), Turks & Caicos (2014), and Salting the Battlefield (2014), and the BBC's Ordeal by Innocence (2018).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Bill Nighy, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
TV Shows (53)
Doctor Who
2005
as Dr Black
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self - Guest
Ride or Die
2026
as The Director
Play for Today
1970
as Dave
Richard & Judy
2001
as Self
Minder
1979
as Oates
Playhouse
1974
as Bruno
Peak Practice
1993
as Alan Sinclair
State of Play
2003
as Cameron Foster
Parkinson
1998
as Self
Castlevania
2017
as Saint Germain (voice)
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
2002
as Lockwood
Wycliffe
1994
as David Cleeve
Black Books
2000
as Man at bar
Timeshift
2002
as self (voice)
Performance
1991
as Roger Maitland / Hugh Marriner
Reilly: Ace of Spies
1983
as Goschen
LIGHT & MAGIC
2022
as Self (archive footage)
Meerkat Manor
2005
as Narrator
The Man Who Fell to Earth
2022
as Thomas Jerome Newton
Kavanagh Q.C.
1995
as Giles Culpepper QC
Premiere
1977
as Deasey
Harlan Coben's Lazarus
2025
as Doctor Lazarus 'Dr L'
Chillers
1990
as Tom Dickenson
Testament: The Bible in Animation
1996
as Belshazzar (voice)
Ordeal by Innocence
2018
as Leo Argyll
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
1983
as Jeffrey Grainger
TECX
1990
This Morning
1988
as Self
10 Minute Tales
2009
as Mr Jellaby
World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys
2019
as Narrator (voice)
Canterbury Tales
2003
as James
Longitude
2000
as Lord Sandwich
South of the Border
1988
as Tony Freason
Agony
1979
as Vincent Fish
People Like Us
1999
as Will Rushmore
Storyboard
1983
as Sam
The Last Place on Earth
1985
as Cecil Meares
The Lost Prince
2003
as Stamfordham
He Knew He Was Right
2004
as Colonel Osborne
Live from Studio Five
2009
as Self
Fox
1980
as Colin Street
California Avenue
as Jerry
Grumpy Old Men
2003
as Self
Natural History Museum: World of Wonder
2021
as Self - Narrator
Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty
2021
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Making News
1990
as Sam Courtney
Eye of the Storm
1993
as Tom Frewen
World's Most Scenic River Journeys
2021
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Norfolk & Suffolk: Coast & Country
2023
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Iberia's Woodlands: Life on the Edge
2021
as Self - Narrator (voice)
The Big Art Project
2009
as Narrator
Kent: Garden of England
2024
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Movies (139)
Shelter
2026
as Manafort
The Wild Robot
2024
as Longneck (voice)
About Time
2013
as Dad
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2006
as Davy Jones
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
as Rufus Scrimgeour
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2007
as Davy Jones
Jack the Giant Slayer
2013
as General Fallon
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
2019
as Howard Clifford
Total Recall
2012
as Matthias
Wrath of the Titans
2012
as Hephaestus
Rango
2011
as Rattlesnake Jake (voice)
The First Omen
2024
as Cardinal Lawrence
Emma.
2020
as Mr. Woodhouse
Shaun of the Dead
2004
as Phillip
The World's End
2013
as The Network (voice)
Underworld
2003
as Viktor
Flushed Away
2006
as Whitey (voice)
The Bookshop
2017
as Mr. Brundish
Love Actually
2003
as Billy Mack
Underworld: Evolution
2006
as Viktor
Arthur Christmas
2011
as Grandsanta (voice)
Hot Fuzz
2007
as Met Chief Inspector
Valkyrie
2008
as Friedrich Olbricht
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
2009
as Viktor
Pride
2014
as Cliff
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005
as Slartibartfast
I, Frankenstein
2014
as Naberius
That Christmas
2024
as Lighthouse Bill (voice)
10 Lives
2024
as Professor Craven (voice)
The Constant Gardener
2005
as Sir Bernard Pellegrin
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012
as Douglas Ainslie
Red Nose Day Actually
2017
as Billy Mack
Mack the Knife
1989
as Tiger Brown
The Boat That Rocked
2009
as Quentin
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2015
as Douglas Ainslie
Norm of the North
2016
as Socrates (voice)
The Limehouse Golem
2016
as John Kildare
500 Miles
2026
Minamata
2020
as Robert "Bob" Hayes
Astro Boy
2009
as Dr. Elefun / Robotsky (voice)
Chalet Girl
2011
as Richard Madsen
Absolute Hell
1991
as Hugh Marriner
Page Eight
2011
as Johnny Worricker
G-Force
2009
as Leonard Saber
Bulk
2026
as The Voice
Fox
1980
as Colin Street
The Phantom of the Opera
1989
as Martin Barton
Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue
2024
as Conrad (voice)
Notes on a Scandal
2006
as Richard Hart
The Young Visiters
2003
as Earl of Clincham
Role Play
2023
as Bob
Turks & Caicos
2014
as Johnny Worricker
Curse of the Pink Panther
1983
as ENT Doctor
Little Lord Fauntleroy
1980
as Officer
Guest House Paradiso
1999
as Mr. Johnson
Slapper
2008
as Arnold Percy
Thirteen at Dinner
1985
as Ronald Marsh
Antonia and Jane
1990
as Howard Nash
Dad's Army
2016
as Sergeant Wilson
Their Finest
2017
as Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
Pride: The True Story
2015
as Himself
StarDog and TurboCat
2019
as Sinclair (voice)
& Sons
2026
as Andrew
Stormbreaker
2006
as Alan Blunt
Salting the Battlefield
2014
as Johnny Worricker
Easter 2016
1982
as Connor Mullan
Eye of the Needle
1981
as Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
Alive and Kicking
1996
as Tristan
Wild Target
2010
as Victor Maynard
Gideon's Daughter
2005
as Gideon Warner
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
1985
as Helmut Hoffmann
Caine
FairyTale: A True Story
1997
as Edward Gardner
Joy
2024
as Patrick Steptoe
The Magic Roundabout
2005
as Dylan (voice)
A Town in Nova Scotia
as Leon
The Maitlands
1993
as Roger Maitland
Bloody Fury
2023
as Bloody's Consciousness (voice)
Living
2022
as Williams
Welcome to Paradise
as Hooker Duck Host (voice)
A Masculine Ending
1992
as John Tracey
Longitude
2000
as Lord Sandwich
Sometimes Always Never
2019
as Alan
Great White Shark
2013
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Spectre of the Bear
2023
as Bennett (voice)
Hope Gap
2019
as Edward
Death Watch
1980
as Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
Ibelin
as Mats Steen
Occupy!
1976
as Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
Astonish Me
2011
as The Professor
Lawless Heart
2002
as Dan
I Capture the Castle
2003
as James Mortmain
The Girl in the Café
2005
as Lawrence
The Little Drummer Girl
1984
as Al
Still Crazy
1998
as Ray Simms
The Beautiful Game
2024
as Mal
Blow Dry
2001
as Ray Robertson
Heart of Darkness
as (voice)
A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman
2015
as Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas'
Being Human
1994
as Julian
Unnatural Causes
1993
as Oliver Latham
This Is the Beginning
2025
The Kindness of Strangers
2019
as Timofey
Lucky Break
2001
as Roger
London: The Modern Babylon
2012
as Spoken Quotations (voice)
Standing in for Henry
1980
as Bruno
Buckley's Chance
2021
as Spencer
The Turning Door
as (voice)
Deasey (Desperate)
1979
as Deasy
Don't Leave Me This Way
1993
as John Tracey
Glorious 39
2009
as Alexander Keyes
Darkling
2023
Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
2005
as Self
Enduring Love
2004
as Robin
The Bass Player
1999
Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene
2013
as Graham Greene (voice)
Soldiers Talking, Cleanly
1978
as Bill
Dreams of Leaving
1980
as William
National Theatre Live: Skylight
2014
as Tom Sergeant
The Hungry Corpse
2013
as The Hungry Corpse
About Bill Nighy
William Francis Nighy (/naɪ/; born 12 December 1949) is a British actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received various accolades, including two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. 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. He gained acclaim for his roles in David Hare's Pravda in 1985… With 192 credits spanning from 1970 to 2026, Bill Nighy has appeared in 139 films and 53 TV shows.
Fans searching for Bill Nighy movies, Bill Nighy filmography, or the latest projects starring Bill Nighy can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Bill Nighy Movies
- Shelter (2026) — as Manafort
- The Wild Robot (2024) — as Longneck (voice)
- About Time (2013) — as Dad
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) — as Davy Jones
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) — as Rufus Scrimgeour
Where to Watch Bill Nighy Films
Most Bill Nighy movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Bill Nighy, check our movies catalogue and browse page.