![]() “Odd, isn’t it?” Nighy essentially became an actor because a girl he was ‘desperate to please’ told him he could. “I know,” he says impishly when I raise this issue with him. It may seem strange that a man who ‘doesn’t particularly like look’ ended up staring down the lens of a camera for a living. Saying I don’t like the sight of myself doesn’t exonerate me in terms of vanity, because in order to be that affected by it you have to be self-absorbed or vain or something.” Despite having built a body of work that includes some of the British public’s most treasured films, Nighy reluctantly admits: “I never watch films I’m in and I never, ever read anything about myself. If there is a quality BBC film being made, odds are Nighy is starring in it. His acting CV is, in many ways, the modern British film industry. ![]() Reaching his ‘declining years’ certainly doesn’t seem to be slowing Nighy down. When talking about his role in Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest Nighy says, “They were looking for a chronically self-absorbed, pompous actor in his declining years and they thought about me.” This, of course, doesn’t seem to prevent Nighy spending the next four hours continuously bouncing around the hotel room – dancing, clicking his fingers, and at one point even climbing onto the roof of the building. If I don’t shave nowadays, people think I’m unwell or say, ‘Oh my God, is he not well? Is he depressed?’ I just look sad – so I shave.” I think there is a certain age after which you can’t look, however self-consciously, unmade – you have to look made. They just give you some kind of oomph to get you through the door. “That’s what people pay for with clothes,” he explains. What might seem like insecurity on another man slips off Nighy like an ill-fitting coat. He will go from aping around on a photoshoot to worrying about the way he looks without ever making you think there might be two Bill Nighys. It’s an endearing side to Nighy’s personality. “I know it’s all nonsense and I know there is nothing wrong with the way I look,” he says, “but I have never been particularly confident in that area and a suit helps me out.” ![]() He’s reportedly even turned down roles because they would have required that he doesn’t wear a suit. For our shoot he brings with him an impeccable collection of Savile Row suits from tailors like Anderson & Sheppard and John Pearse. “It may have me in it, but there we go.”īy now Nighy’s collection of suits, or rather, blue suits, is renowned. “I tend to overdress because I can say to myself: “Well, at least you’ve got the suit,'” he reveals. In spite of his laid-back image, Nighy is the first to say that he ‘doesn’t particularly fancy self’. At points, he might even be verging on self-deprecating. But he’s also one of the most humble people I have ever met. Everyone you meet tells you: “Bill Nighy is a seriously cool dude.” One friend actually said to me: “It’s universal, like gravity.” Having spent time with him, it’s impossible to disagree. The British public have warmed to him like perhaps no other male actor. He has been on our screens for more than 40 years and the stage for longer still. Nighy is the actor everybody thinks they know. If that kind of thing happens to you, you should just continually thank your lucky stars.” I walk everywhere, so I get approached at least 20 times a day and 15 of them want to talk about that film. When I ask if he minds still being recognised for a role so many years after the film was released, he has a straight answer.
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