
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 | Role Play | Bob | 2024 |
Movie | The Beautiful Game | Mal | 2024 |
Movie | Real Creatures of Dirt | Self / Rattlesnake Jake | 2024 |
Movie | Dragonkeeper | Danzi (voice) | 2023-08-10 |
Movie | 10 Lives | Professor Craven (voice) | 2023-08-24 |
Movie | Living | Williams | 2022-11-04 |
Series | The Man Who Fell to Earth | Thomas Jerome Newton | 2022-04-24 |
Movie | The Laughter & Secrets of 'Love Actually': 20 Years Later | Self | 2022-11-29 |
Series | World's Most Scenic River Journeys | Narrator | 2021-04-02 |
Movie | Buckley's Chance | Spencer | 2021-06-24 |
Series | Iberia's Woodlands: Life on the Edge | Self - Narrator (voice) | 2021-06-29 |
Movie | Lotus: A New Dawn | Self - Narrator | 2021-07-28 |
Series | Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty | Self - Narrator (voice) | 2021-06-05 |
Movie | Emma. | Mr. Woodhouse | 2020-02-13 |
Movie | Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular | Self | 2020-12-01 |
Movie | Minamata | Robert "Bob" Hayes | 2020-03-13 |
Movie | Pokémon Detective Pikachu | Howard Clifford | 2019-05-10 |
Movie | Sometimes Always Never | Alan | 2019-03-14 |
Series | World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys | Narrator (voice) | 2019-10-25 |
Movie | StarDog and TurboCat | Sinclair (voice) | 2019-12-06 |
Movie | The Kindness of Strangers | Timofey | 2019-12-12 |
Movie | Hope Gap | Edward | 2019-10-03 |
Series | The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale | Himself | 2018-02-18 |
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 |
Series | Castlevania | Saint Germain (voice) | 2017-07-07 |
Movie | Red Nose Day Actually | Billy Mack | 2017-03-24 |
Movie | Norm of the North | Socrates (voice) | 2016-01-14 |
Movie | Dad's Army | Sergeant Wilson | 2016-02-05 |
Movie | The Limehouse Golem | John Kildare | 2016-10-18 |
Movie | A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman | Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas' | 2015-12-26 |
Movie | The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Douglas Ainslie | 2015-02-26 |
Movie | I, Frankenstein | Naberius | 2014-01-22 |
Movie | Turks & Caicos | Johnny Worricker | 2014-03-20 |
Movie | Salting the Battlefield | Johnny Worricker | 2014-03-27 |
Movie | Pride | Cliff | 2014-09-12 |
Movie | National Theatre Live: Skylight | Tom Sergeant | 2014-07-24 |
Movie | Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene | Graham Greene (voice) | 2013-01-01 |
Movie | Jack the Giant Slayer | General Fallon | 2013-02-27 |
Movie | Great White Shark | Self - Narrator (voice) | 2013-05-24 |
Movie | The World's End | The Network (voice) | 2013-07-18 |
Movie | About Time | Dad | 2013-09-04 |
Movie | The Hungry Corpse | The Hungry Corpse | 2013-06-26 |
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 | Rango | Rattlesnake Jake (voice) | 2011-03-02 |
Movie | Astonish Me | The Professor | 2011-07-26 |
Movie | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Douglas Ainslie | 2011-11-28 |
Movie | Arthur Christmas | Grandsanta (voice) | 2011-11-10 |
Movie | Page Eight | Johnny Worricker | 2011-08-28 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 | Rufus Scrimgeour | 2010-10-06 |
Movie | Wild Target | Victor Maynard | 2010-06-17 |
Movie | The Boat That Rocked | Quentin | 2009-04-01 |
Series | The Big Art Project | Narrator | 2009-05-10 |
Movie | Underworld: Rise of the Lycans | Viktor | 2009-01-22 |
Movie | Astro Boy | Dr. Elefun (voice) | 2009-10-15 |
Series | Live from Studio Five | Self | 2009-09-14 |
Movie | Glorious 39 | Alexander Keyes | 2009-11-20 |
Movie | G-Force | Leonard Saber | 2009-07-24 |
Movie | Slapper | Arnold Percy | 2008-06-21 |
Movie | Valkyrie | Friedrich Olbricht | 2008-12-25 |
Movie | A Fox's Tale | Ringmaster (voice) | 2008-04-17 |
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 | Underworld: Evolution | Viktor | 2006-01-12 |
Movie | Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener | Self | 2006-01-10 |
Movie | We Love Cigarettes | Narrator | 2006-06-29 |
Series | The One Show | Self | 2006-08-14 |
Movie | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Davy Jones | 2006-07-06 |
Movie | Flushed Away | Whitey (voice) | 2006-10-22 |
Movie | Notes on a Scandal | Richard Hart | 2006-12-25 |
Movie | Stormbreaker | Alan Blunt | 2006-07-21 |
Series | Doctor Who | Dr Black | 2005-03-26 |
Movie | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Slartibartfast | 2005-04-28 |
Movie | The Magic Roundabout | Dylan (voice) | 2005-02-02 |
Series | Meerkat Manor | Narrator | 2005-09-02 |
Movie | Gideon's Daughter | Gideon Warner | 2005-10-21 |
Movie | 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' | Self | 2005-09-05 |
Movie | The Constant Gardener | Sir Bernard Pellegrin | 2005-08-31 |
Movie | Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' | Self | 2005-07-05 |
Movie | The Girl in the Café | Lawrence | 2005-06-25 |
Movie | Burst | Maxwell's Fan 22 | 2004-01-01 |
Series | He Knew He Was Right | Colonel Osborne | 2004-04-18 |
Movie | Enduring Love | Robin | 2004-11-26 |
Movie | Shaun of the Dead | Phillip | 2004-04-09 |
Movie | I Capture the Castle | James Mortmain | 2003-05-09 |
Series | The Lost Prince | Stamfordham | 2003-01-19 |
Movie | Ready When You Are, Mr McGill | Phil Parish | 2003-01-01 |
Series | State of Play | Cameron Foster | 2003-05-18 |
Series | Grumpy Old Men | Self | 2003-10-10 |
Movie | Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates | Unknown | 2003-12-02 |
Movie | The Young Visiters | Earl of Clincham | 2003-12-26 |
Movie | Love Actually | Billy Mack | 2003-09-07 |
Movie | Underworld | Viktor | 2003-09-19 |
Series | Canterbury Tales | James | 2003-09-11 |
Movie | Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher | Narrator | 2003-12-29 |
Movie | AKA | Uncle Louis Gryffoyn | 2002-01-19 |
Series | Timeshift | self (voice) | 2002-10-10 |
Series | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Lockwood | 2002-04-08 |
Movie | Lawless Heart | Dan | 2002-06-28 |
Series | Richard & Judy | Self | 2001-11-26 |
Movie | Blow Dry | Ray Robertson | 2001-03-01 |
Movie | Lucky Break | Roger | 2001-08-24 |
Series | Black Books | Man at bar | 2000-09-29 |
Movie | Longitude | Lord Sandwich | 2000-01-02 |
Series | Longitude | Lord Sandwich | 2000-01-02 |
Series | People Like Us | Will Rushmore | 1999-09-20 |
Movie | Guest House Paradiso | Mr. Johnson | 1999-12-03 |
Series | Total Recall 2070 | Matthias Lair | 1999-01-05 |
Movie | Still Crazy | Ray Simms | 1998-10-30 |
Movie | FairyTale: A True Story | Edward Gardner | 1997-10-24 |
Movie | True Blue | Jeremy Saville | 1996-11-15 |
Series | Testament: The Bible in Animation | Belshazzar (voice) | 1996-12-11 |
Movie | Alive and Kicking | Tristan | 1996-11-08 |
Series | Kavanagh Q.C. | Giles Culpepper QC | 1995-01-03 |
Series | Wycliffe | David Cleeve | 1994-07-24 |
Movie | Being Human | Julian | 1994-05-06 |
Movie | The Maitlands | Roger Maitland | 1993-11-13 |
Series | Peak Practice | Alan Sinclair | 1993-05-10 |
Movie | Don't Leave Me This Way | John Tracey | 1993-05-30 |
Movie | Unnatural Causes | Oliver Latham | 1993-01-02 |
Movie | A Masculine Ending | John Tracey | 1992-04-12 |
Movie | Absolute Hell | Hugh Marriner | 1991-10-05 |
Movie | The Men's Room | Prof. Mark Carleton | 1991-09-25 |
Series | Performance | Roger Maitland | 1991-02-22 |
Series | Making News | Sam Courtney | 1990-01-16 |
Series | Chillers | Tom Dickenson | 1990-04-14 |
Movie | Antonia and Jane | Howard Nash | 1990-01-01 |
Movie | The Phantom of the Opera | Martin Barton | 1989-11-04 |
Movie | Mack the Knife | Tiger Brown | 1989-11-01 |
Series | The Last Place on Earth | Cecil Meares | 1985-02-18 |
Movie | Thirteen at Dinner | Ronald Marsh | 1985-09-19 |
Movie | Hitler's SS : Portrait In Evil | Helmut Hoffmann | 1985-02-17 |
Movie | The Little Drummer Girl | Al | 1984-10-19 |
Series | Auf Wiedersehen, Pet | Jeffrey Grainger | 1983-11-11 |
Movie | Curse of the Pink Panther | ENT Doctor | 1983-08-12 |
Series | Reilly: Ace of Spies | Goschen | 1983-09-05 |
Movie | Easter 2016 | Connor Mullan | 1982-05-18 |
Movie | Under the Skin | Dave | 1982-01-19 |
Movie | Eye of the Needle | Squadron Leader Blenkinsop | 1981-07-24 |
Series | Bergerac | Barry | 1981-10-18 |
Movie | Dreams of Leaving | William | 1980-01-17 |
Movie | Death Watch | Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited) | 1980-01-23 |
Movie | Fox | Colin Street | 1980-03-10 |
Movie | Little Lord Fauntleroy | Officer | 1980-12-01 |
Series | Fox | Colin Street | 1980-03-10 |
Series | Agony | Vincent Fish | 1979-03-11 |
Series | Minder | Oates | 1979-10-29 |
Movie | Soldiers Talking, Cleanly | Bill | 1978-12-05 |
Movie | Occupy! | Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool | 1976-01-01 |