Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy
Biographical information
Birth name	William Francis Nighy
Born	12 December 1949
Nationality	British
Gender	Male
Eye colour	Blue
Hair colour	Brown
Height	6' 2"
Family	Mary Nighy (daughter)
Career
Years active	1975 - present
In Harry Potter	Rufus Scrimgeour
Other roles	Pirates of the Caribbean

Bill Nighy (born 12 December 1949) is an English actor, who portrayed Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

Career

In July 2009, Bill Nighy announced that he got the role of Rufus Scrimgeour. Nighy had already worked with director David Yates twice, and with the majority of the Harry Potter cast in previous films. He once joked he was the only British actor who hasn't been in the Harry Potter film series. Upon being given the role of Scrimgeour, Nighy commented: "I am no longer the only English actor not to be in Harry Potter and I am very pleased."

Bill Nighy was previously nominated the best bi-roll actor in Love Actually as Billy Mack. Nighy is also well known for his work as the vampire king Viktor in the Underworld series as well as Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He also appeared in the 2010 Doctor Who episode "Vincent and the Doctor".

Personal life

Nighy was born in Caterham, Surrey to Catherine Josephine Nighy (née Whittaker), a psychiatric nurse of Irish descent born in Glasgow, and Alfred Martin Nighy, an English man who managed a car garage after working in the family chimney sweeping business.

Nighy is also a patron of the Milton Rooms, a new arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Imelda Staunton, Jools Holland and Kathy Burke.

Known for his support of total gender equality, Nighy noted in an interview during the 2016 DIFF film festival that the highlighting of the gender inequality problem had been a factor in his choice of films. He has also spoken of his role in Pride, a film extolling the mutual support between the National Union of Miners and gay rights' groups in the UK in the 1980s, as one of his most cherished.

Selective filmography

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result
1998	Still Crazy	Evening Standard British Film	Peter Sellers Award for Comedy	Won
		Satellite	Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Nominated
2001	Blue/Orange	Olivier	Best Actor	Nominated
	Lawless Heart	BIFA	Best Actor in a British Independent Film	Nominated
2002	AKA	LAFCA	Best Supporting Actor	Won
2003	Love Actually	BAFTA Film	Best Supporting Actor	Won
		Evening Standard British Film	Peter Sellers Award for Comedy	Won
		Satellite	Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Nominated
	I Capture the Castle	LAFCA	Best Supporting Actor	Won
	State of Play	BAFTA TV	Best Actor	Won
	The Lost Prince	Satellite	Best Supporting Actor - TV	Won
	Underworld	N/A
2005	The Constant Gardener	BIFA	Best Supporting Actor/Actress	Nominated
	The Girl in the Café	Golden Globe	Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie	Nominated
2006	Gideon's Daughter	Golden Globe	Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie	Won
		Satellite	Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film	Won
	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	MTV Movie	Best Villain	Nominated
		Saturn	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Teen Choice	Choice Movie: Sleazebag	Won
	Underworld: Evolution	N/A
2007	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	Teen Choice	Choice Movie: Villain	Won
2009	Underworld: Rise of the Lycans	N/A
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1	N/A
2011	Arthur Christmas	Annie	Voice Acting in a Feature Production	Won
	Page Eight	Golden Globe	Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film	Nominated
		Satellite	Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film	Nominated
2015	Skylight	Tony	Best Actor in a Play	Nominated
2017	The Bookshop	Goya	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated

Behind the scenes

• Bill Nighy has appeared in two films outside the Harry Potter films with Peter Pettigrew actor Timothy Spall: the 1998 film Still Crazy and the 2001 film Lucky Break.
  • The latter also featured Mundungus Fletcher actor Andy Linden.
• Nighy has appeared in three productions with Rita Skeeter actress Miranda Richardson: the TV dramas The Lost Prince and Gideon's Daughter, and the 2008 film A Fox's Tale.
  • The Lost Prince also featured Albus Dumbledore actor Michael Gambon.
• He has appeared in three films with Lord Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes: the 2005 film The Constant Gardener, the 2011 TV film Page Eight, and the 2012 film Wrath of the Titans.
  • Page Eight also featured Michael Gambon.
• He has appeared in two films outside the Wizarding World franchise with Rosmerta actress Julie Christie: the 2009 film Glorious 39 and the 2017 film The Bookshop.
  • The former also featured Bartemius Crouch Junior, Younger Albus Dumbledore, and Newton Scamander actors David Tennant, Toby Regbo, and Eddie Redmayne respectively.
• He has appeared in two films with Eldred Worple actor Paul Ritter: the 2016 films The Limehouse Golem and Their Finest.
  • The latter also featured Narcissa Malfoy actress Helen McCrory.
• Nighy has also starred alongside several other actors and actresses from the Harry Potter films in various projects:
  • Emma Thompson (Sybill Trelawney), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), and Andrew Lincoln (Quidditch Through the Ages 2018 audiobook narrator) in the 2003 film Love Actually.
  • Joe Sowerbutts in the 2003 film I Capture the Castle.
  • Two films with Xenophilius Lovegood actor Rhys Ifans:
    • The 2004 film Enduring Love, which also featured Andrew Lincoln and Helen McCrory.
    • The 2009 film The Boat That Rocked, which also featured Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh (Gilderoy Lockhart).
  • Jessica Hynes (voice of Mafalda Hopkirk) in the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead.
  • Three films with Horace Slughorn actor Jim Broadbent:
    • The UK English dub of the 2005 French film The Magic Roundabout.
    • The 2007 film Hot Fuzz, which also featured David Bradley (Argus Filch).
    • The 2011 film Arthur Christmas, which also featured Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid).
  • Two films with Vernon Dursley actor Richard Griffiths:
    • The 2005 film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which also featured Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry (UK audiobook narrator), and Warwick Davis (Filius Flitwick).
    • The 2013 time-traveling film About Time, which also featured Domhnall Gleeson (William Weasley).
  • Johnny Depp (Young Gellert Grindelwald) in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Rango (2011), and Minamata (2020).
  • Stephen Fry and Robbie Coltrane in the 2006 film Stormbreaker.
  • Kenneth Branagh in the 2008 film Valkyrie.
  • Rupert Grint (Ronald Weasley) in the 2010 film Wild Target.
  • Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall) in the 2011 film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and the 2015 film The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
  • Colin Farrell (Percival Graves) in the 2012 film Total Recall.
  • David Bradley in the 2013 film The World's End.
  • Imelda Staunton and Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) in the 2014 film Pride.
  • Michael Gambon and Toby Jones (voice of Dobby) in the 2016 film Dad's Army.
  • Callum Turner (Theseus Scamander) in the 2020 film Emma.
  • Nighy narrates the footnotes to the 2021-2023 audiobook productions of the Discworld novels by the late Sir Terry Pratchett, including Moving Pictures and Pyramids, the main bodies of which are narrated by Jason Isaacs and Alfred Enoch, respectively.

External links

• Bill Nighy at the Internet Movie Database
• Bill Nighy on Wikipedia
• Bill Nighy on screen and stage on Wikipedia
• List of awards and nominations received by Bill Nighy on Wikipedia