Bill Nighy
Interview By: Benjamin Lee
For most actors, fame usually comes at a very young age. Mel Gibson broke out in Mad Max at the age of 23, Sean Penn arrived in Fast Times at Ridgemont High when he was 22 while Tom Cruise starred in Risky Business at 21. For British actor Bill Nighy, it's taken longer than usual.
He started at the age of 30 and despite plowing away with various film and TV roles, it wasn't until Love Actually, when Nighy was 54, that people really started taking notice. He relished his new-found fame and roles in Underworld, Shaun of the Dead, The Constant Gardener, Flushed Away and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest followed. In his new film, Notes on a Scandal however, his role was far more real-world.
Nighy plays the husband of Cate Blanchett, who herself plays a schoolteacher embroiled in an affair with a teenage boy. Nighy admits that he enjoyed the chance to play someone based in reality. 'It was nice not to play a vampire, a zombie or a squid!' he says, 'It was nice to play a dad. It was a terrific script. Working with Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, it took no time at all to say yes!'
Nighy is full of nothing but respect for his female co-stars. This is the 3rd project Nighy has worked on with Judi Dench and the two have struck up a friendship. 'There's a very short list of great actresses and she is probably at the top' he believes, 'She's also an enchanting human being and extremely good company. She's also a right nuisance because she has a wicked sense of humor. She likes to laugh a lot and sometimes I think it's her favorite part of the job.' Blanchett, who plays his wife, is also someone Nighy was thrilled to work with. 'It was fabulous at all times to work with Cate' he gushes, 'I always end up using 8 words to describe her. She's just absolutely marvelous to work with. I was very grateful to be able to work with her. She's inexpressibly fabulous.'
The family life onscreen is shown as being almost flawless, making the viewer even more confused as to why Blanchett would do something so unforgivable. 'I mean I won't pretend to understand what would make a woman in her position act as recklessly as she does' he states, 'It's often the case. You look at peoples lives and you think what's wrong with that picture' It would seem to indicate that it's obviously an act of self-sabotage, whether consciously or not.' Nighy is quick to differentiate the infidelity from what we're usually used to seeing in the movies. It's far worse.
'It's not some affair' he stresses, 'This is something where there is no coming back. There is no redemption. It's one of the very few ways that you can completely savage your life and the lives of everyone around you. The family will never recover from this. Generations will suffer because of her action. Death would be preferable.' The affair culminates in a powerful scene where Nighy confronts his wife. He admits it was a hard scene to film. 'That was a big day at the office' he reveals, 'That was tough and grueling. I'm not one for complaining that I take it home. I generally come home and have a cup of coffee but that was a day where I was required to stay very unhappy and very very angry for a very long time.'
The film's plotline bears a striking resemblance to many real-life affairs between adults and minors. But, the gender reversal makes it one which is more unique. 'I don't pretend to know enough to compare the way the world reacts when it's a male teacher and a female minor and the way when it's a female adult and a male minor' Nighy admits, 'But there is a different tone of response in the world.'
Currently Nighy is starring in The Vertical Hour, a play currently on in New York. It's success is bringing a very big smile to his face. 'I've been very lucky' he believes, 'It's been a good time lately. I just opened in a play on Broadway with Julianne Moore who is someone I've admired all my life, I'm working with Sam Mendes, it's a big hit and I'm experiencing enormous relief!'
Next for Nighy is of course, Pirates 3. It's already being filmed and Nighy admits it's gonna be an exciting prospect. 'Lots of big stuff happens to Davey and to everybody' he shares, 'It's completely mad. The biggest set I've ever been on in my life. We were filming just outside of LA and they had huge hangars the size of football stadiums. They had two full-size galleons and something like 60 stunt men on each ship which means every time you said a line they went into a the most manic, choreographed battle. So if you forgot your line there were some seriously disgruntled stuntmen!'
While an emotionally charged argument with an Oscar-winning actress can be tough, it's nothing to what they put Nighy through on the set of the new Pirates movie. 'The last 10 weeks of the shoot happened under a rain machine so you're wet from 8 in the morning to 10 at night' he recalls, 'There were also 6 wind machines so your main challenge was to keep your eyes open and stay upright. Acting goes out of the window. As soon as everyone turned the rain off everyone burst out laughing. It's incredible.'
Although success has come at a late stage, Nighy is loving every minute of it. Humble and self-deprecating, he has a humility most younger actors never have. With all of the triumphs in his career, Nighy laughs, 'I must have done something right!'
