Bill Nighy

Cult star from “Actually … Love” celebrates his 75th birthday

Bill Nighy in "Actually ... Love":

(Bild: www.viennareport.at/Peter Mountain/Universal Studios Pictures/Shooting Sta)

When it comes to Bill Nighy, the first thing that probably comes to most people's minds is the 2003 Christmas movie "Actually ... Love" from 2003 comes to mind. Nighy's performance as eccentric old rocker Billy Mack is cult and helped the versatile character actor, who is over 50, to become famous far beyond the borders of Great Britain. On December 12, Nighy turned 75 years old and is still benefiting from "Actually ... Love". 

The episodic film by Richard Curtis earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and lifted his professional career to new heights. "The biggest changes were that my fees quintupled and I never had to audition again," he said in an interview with the British magazine "The i". "If you asked any actor their top five wishes, one of them would be: 'Please don't ever let me have to audition again'."

A few years earlier, Nighy had already played the lead singer of a not-so-young rock band in the comedy "Still Crazy". Until then, he had mainly appeared in films outside the mainstream and in various TV films and series. With the success of "Tatsächlich ... Love" and another BAFTA in 2004 for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the BBC series "Murder on Page One", Nighy became a movie star.

Bill Nighy

(Bild: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Suddenly a sought-after film star at 50
The naturally cool Brit played the vampire elder Viktor in the "Underworld" series. But the role of pirate Davy Jones with a computer-generated octopus face in two "Pirates of the Caribbean" films was suspicious to him. "On set, I kept saying to myself: the money, the money!" said Nighy in the "Vanity Fair" interview. "Because they paid me a lot of money. That was the reason why I did it."

It was a different story with the shady minister Rufus Scrimgeour in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". "I had wondered why I was the only British actor of a certain age who hadn't done Harry Potter," he admitted. "I was very pleased." Other cinema hits with him were "Radio Rock Revolution", "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "Shaun Of The Dead".

Stage career in Liverpool and London
Like many of his later colleagues, William Francis Nighy, who was born in Surrey on December 12, 1949, took a liking to the theater as a child and appeared on stage as a schoolboy. He trained at the Guildford School of Dance and Drama. After initially working in Liverpool, he made his debut at the Royal National Theatre in London at the end of the 1970s.

From the 1980s onwards, he appeared regularly in front of the camera. However, Nighy was not a household name back then. That changed drastically with "Actually ... Love", partly because he is now constantly in front of the camera - or in the recording studio. He lent his voice to the main character for the new animated film "A Tiny Christmas Miracle", which is available on Netflix. The film is based on a children's book by "Tatsächlich ... Love" director and author Richard Curtis.

The Golden Globe winner ("Gideon's Daughter", 2006) received much praise for his moving portrayal of a terminally ill London bureaucrat in the historical drama "Living". Nighy moved audiences, wowed film critics and even received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role last year.

Grandpa Bill keeps his private life to himself
The sought-after actor keeps his private life out of the public eye as much as possible. He prefers to avoid interview questions on personal topics. "There's no reason why people should know more about me than I show on screen," he told the Times.

Nevertheless, it is known that he was in a relationship with his colleague Diana Quick for a long time. The two have a daughter together. Bill Nighy is now a grandfather. "My grandchildren have no idea about my career," he told "Vanity Fair" with his usual dry humor. "I don't think they've ever seen a movie of mine. They don't even know who I am."