Bill Nighy (IPA: /naɪ/; born December 12, 1949) is a Golden Globe and BAFTA-award winning English actor. He started working in theatre and television, before his first cinema role in 1981. He is perhaps best known for his film roles in Love Actually, Underworld, Shaun of the Dead and Pirates of the Caribbean.
William Francis Nighy, the youngest of three children, was born in Caterham, Surrey, England to Catherine Josephine Whittaker, a psychiatric nurse, and Alfred Martin Nighy, who managed a car garage and worked as a mechanic. He has two siblings, Martin and Anna. Nighy attended the John Fisher School in Purley. He trained at the Guildford School of Acting, formerly known as The Guildford School of Dance and Drama.
After two seasons at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, Nighy made his London stage debut at the National Theatre in an epic staging of Ken Campbell and Chris Langham's Illuminatus!, which opened the new Cottesloe Theatre on 4th March 1977, and went on to appear in two David...
Created by dipity on Jan 24, 2008
Last updated: 01/24/08 at 04:29 PM
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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is a 2007 adventure film, the third in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Gore Verbinski directed the film, as he did with the previous two. It was shot in two shoots during 2005 and 2006, the former simultaneously with the preceeding film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
The plot follows the crew of the Black Pearl rescuing Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), from Davy Jones' Locker, and then preparing to fight the East India Trading Company, led by Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), who plan to extinguish piracy. The film was released in English-speaking countries on May 24, 2007 after Disney opted to move the release date to a day earlier than originally planned. Although critical reviews were mixed, At World's End was a box office hit, becoming the most successful film of the year.
Lord Cutler Beckett begins executing anyone associated with piracy and commands Davy Jones to destroy all pirate ships. To...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449088
Flushed Away is a computer animated British film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell. It is a partnership between Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Animation, and is Aardman's first completely computer-animated feature as opposed to the usual stop-motion. The film stars the voice talents of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Ian McKellen, Shane Richie and Jean Reno. The screenplay was written by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Christopher Lloyd, Joe Keenan, and William Davies. The film was released in movie theatres on November 3, 2006, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was rated PG by the MPAA for crude humor and some language. It was distributed in Switzerland, Spain, and Netherlands by Universal Pictures.
Roddy St. James is a decidedly upper-crust pet rat who makes his home in a posh Kensington flat. When a common sewer rat named Sid comes spewing out of the sink and decides he lives where he likes, Roddy schemes to get rid of Sid by luring him...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424095
Stormbreaker is a 2006 spy film based on Stormbreaker, the first novel in the Alex Rider series. It stars newcomer Alex Pettyfer as the teenage spy alongside noted actors Mickey Rourke and Ewan McGregor. The film was renamed to Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker for the United States release.
Author Anthony Horowitz, already an established and prolific scriptwriter in British television, wrote the screenplay and worked very closely throughout the film's production with director Geoffrey Sax and producers Marc and Peter Samuelson. The Weinstein Company acquired the North American rights to the film, which was filmed in Summer 2005 with six weeks on the Isle of Man and a further six weeks in London.. The film had a budget of £25 million ($40 million).
In 2005, young actor Alex Pettyfer was cast as Rider. He was picked out of five hundred hopefuls who auditioned for the role. Pettyfer was originally offered a role in the then-upcoming film Eragon but turned it down, noting that he...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457495
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the sequel to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The film was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) discovers his debt to the villainous Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is due, while Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are arrested by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) for helping Jack Sparrow escape execution.
The film was shot back-to-back with the third film during 2005, and was released in Australia and the United Kingdom on July 6, 2006, and in the United States and Canada on July 7, 2006. The film received mixed reviews, with praise for its special effects and criticism for its complex story and lengthy running time. Despite this, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest set several records in its first three days...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383574
Underworld: Evolution It is the second film in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003. Evolution continues the conflict between vampires and Lycans, also highlighting the beginnings of the feud.
Underworld Evolution is an immediate follow-up to Underworld (2003). Therefore, the events of Evolution begin during the same night of the first film's finale, and the next few days after.
The story opens in a flashback sequence to the year 1202 AD. An army of medieval warriors arrives at a ravaged village, led by the three vampire elders: Marcus Corvinus, Viktor, and Amelia, followed by an army of the first Death Dealers. Viktor orders his troops to quickly burn the corpses of the slain villagers, but before the task is completed, the bodies awake and transform into werewolves. A bloody battle erupts, and Viktor orders Marcus to retreat. Viktor and Amelia take the rest of their troops into the woods, where they capture Marcus's brother William Corvinus, the first and most...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401855
The Constant Gardener is a 2005 Academy Award-winning film based on the John le Carré novel of the same name. Directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God) and produced by Simon Channing-Williams (Secrets and Lies and Vera Drake), it tells the story of Justin Quayle, a man who finds his wife murdered and then seeks to uncover the reasons behind her death. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Hubert Koundé, Danny Huston and Bill Nighy.The story was filmed in Loiyangalani and the slums of Kibera, Kenya. The situation affected the cast and crew to the extent that they set up the Constant Gardener Trust in order to provide basic education around these villages. Weisz, Fiennes, and Le Carré are patrons of the charity. Most critics enjoyed the cinematography and the depth of character as portrayed by the actors and writers.
Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a civil servant working for the British High Commission in Kenya, sends off his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz) and her friend Dr. Arnold...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387131
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in the USA. It was rolled out to cinemas worldwide during May, June, July, August and September.The screenplay was begun by Adams, and completed by Garth Jennings and Karey Kirkpatrick after Adams's death in 2001.The movie begins with the narrator (voiced by Stephen Fry) explaining that dolphins, the second most-intelligent mammals on Earth (humans being the third), have been trying to warn mankind about the impending destruction of Earth. Their backflips and swimming patterns, according to the Guide, are their way of communicating with humans. Considering their mission a failure, the dolphins decide to leave after singing the song So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.One morning, waking to the sound of bulldozers...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724
Enduring Love is a 2004 British film directed by Roger Michell with screenwriter Joe Penhall, based on a British novel by Ian McEwan.The story is about two strangers who become dangerously close after witnessing a deadly accident.It stars Daniel Craig, Rhys Ifans and Samantha Morton with Bill Nighy, Susan Lynch and Corin Redgrave.Tagline: An extraordinary event brought them together. A deadly obsession will tear them apart.The film and the book differ a great deal, the most obvious change being the renaming of Joe Rose (Daniel Craig)'s love interest, Clarissa Mellon, to Claire (Samantha Morton), and the change in her position from common-law wife to girlfriend. The character is now a sculptor instead of the Keats scholar she was in the novel. Joe's profession has also changed from science writer to college teacher, and Jed Parry (Rhys Ifans) is no longer living a life of comfort on his inherited wealth.Several key scenes from the novel do not appear in the film, and in their place,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375735
Love Actually is a romantic comedy first released in cinemas in October and November 2003. The film was the directorial debut of successful English screen-writer Richard Curtis and features an ensemble cast of predominantly British actors.The film's British premiere took place in Leicester Square in London on 16 November 2003. There, Curtis described his film as a "roaring rampage of romance" – a reference to the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill Vol. 1 released around the same time, which had been referred to as "a roaring rampage of revenge". Among the more general themes of unrequited love and conflicted loyalties, more specific themes include amorous desires for employees and for American women.In response to critics, Curtis said at the premiere, "I'd rather make a film that most of the audience liked and some critics didn't, than a film that critics loved and nobody wanted to watch."As of July 2005, Love Actually had achieved a US gross box office of over $59 million and a world...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331
Underworld is a 2003 action-horror film about the secret history of vampire and werewolves, where the latter are referred to as "Lycan" as an abbreviated form of lycanthrope. It is the first film in the Underworld series. The main plot revolves around Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a vampire "Death Dealer", or one who hunts Lycans, a job she is extremely good at due to the fact that she is fueled with hatred for the whole species, whom she believes to have killed her entire family. She finds herself attracted to a medical intern, Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), after saving him from the Lycan master Lucian (who bit Michael and infected him with the Lycan virus), and must decide whether to do her "duty" and kill him or to risk her life to save him. This movie has many parallels as a dark Romeo and Juliet tale.In the Underworld myths, Vampires and Lycans are not mystical creatures, but rather the product of a virus. Sixteen centuries ago, a man named Alexander Corvinus was the only...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0320691
AKA is a 2002 drama film, the first by director and writer Duncan Roy. The film is set in the late 1970s in Britain and deals with the story of Dean, a 18-year old boy who assumes another identity in order to enter high society. Dean then meets David, an older gay man who desires him and Benjamin, a young Texan hustler. It is largely an autobiographical account of writer Duncan Roy's early life.
The screen consists of a row of three frames, showing three perspectives.
The film has been nominated for several awards, especially in the gay community.
...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317052
Guest House Paradiso is a 1999 comedy slapstick movie, starring Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, and directed by Edmondson. It is based on their comedy television series Bottom. The key difference in the characters is in their names: Rik's character, known as "Richard Richard" in the TV show, is here referred to as "Richard Twat" (although he regularly and angrily insists on the pronunciation "Thwaite"). Eddie's character changes from "Eddie Elizabeth Hitler" in the TV/Live show to "Eddie Elizabeth Ndingo-m'baba".
The film was made on the Isle of Wight.
Richie (Rik Mayall) and Eddie (Ade Edmondson) run the worst guest house in the United Kingdom, neighbouring a nuclear power station (the plant is probably a parody of Sellafield as a radiation leak happens during the film). The chef is an idiotic drunkard (who, as it happens is also an illegal immigrant) who can't cook and eventually leaves due to his lack of payment, the guests are totally unsatisfied (one of them played by Bill...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381
Still Crazy is a 1998 comedy film about a fictional 70's rock band named "Strange Fruit", who, after being split up for several years, are convinced to get back together to perform at a reunion of the same concert venue where they played their last gig. The film focuses on the personal lives on all of the different members, and their individual experiences with approaching middle-age and the success that eluded them.It was nominated for two Golden Globes in 1999, but received surprisingly low attention given its cast lineup.The film opens with the band performing at the Wisbech Rock Festival in 1977. Hughie (Billy Connolly) is giving a commentary of how, due to the pursuit of "fame, fortune, and fornication" (as well as the O.D. of their original guitarist, Brian's brother, Keith), that was their last performance. In the middle of their concert, lightning strikes the stage and the members take the hint and split up in frustration over competing egos and various member's lack of self...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149151
Being Human is a 1993 film starring Robin Williams.
The film portrays the experience of a single human soul (portrayed by Williams) through various incarnations. Williams is the only common actor throughout the stories that span man's history on the earth.
The film was written and directed by Bill Forsyth for David Puttnam while he was in control of Columbia Studios in 1989. When Putnam was ousted Being Human was pulled from the distribution schedule and was given a limited release in 1993.
This is Ewan McGregor's screen debut.
...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106379
Bill Nighy was born
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