Bill Nighy

There are no signs of slowing down either, as he next appeared in Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), About Time (2013), and I, Frankenstein (2014).

With supporting turns in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012) and Total Recall (2012), 2012 was a busy year for Nighy.

Bill Nighy was cast in the lead role of Charles Paris in the 2010 BBC radio/audiobook adaptation of the Simon Brett's "Cast, in Order of Disappearance". This book is the first in the series "The Charles Paris mysteries", featuring Charles, a minor British actor and amateur sleuth, and was originally published in 1975.The audiobook version of the story was relocated to the set of a vampire film "The Wreathing" with Charles cast in the role of "Szabec", a middle management vampire in an organised vampire society. The relocation of the story is a deliberate reference to Bill Nighy's casting as "Viktor" in the "Underworld" franchise of vampire films. In the audiobook, the equivalent of the "Selene" role (played by Kate Beckinsale in the film) is played by a fictional actress called Jodie Ricks (dramatised by Martin McCutcheon in the audiobook).

He has also provided voice work for many animated movies in the past few years including Flushed Away (2006), Astro Boy (2009), Rango (2011) and Arthur Christmas (2011).

Nighy won a Golden Globe for his performance in Gideon's Daughter (2005). Nighy actually began his career on the stage, and has earned acclaim for his work in numerous plays including "The Vertical Hour," "Pravda".

He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in June 2004.

Nighy is perhaps best-known to international audiences for his memorable performance as washed-up pop singer Billy Mack in Love Actually (2003), which won him a BAFTA for best supporting actor.

He has also made appearances in major franchises: he played vampire leader Viktor in Underworld (2003), Underworld Evolution (2006) and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), did the performance capture and voice for Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), and made a brief appearance as Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010).

Nighy's recent film credits include roles in I Capture the Castle (2003), 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) and Pirate Radio (2009).

He has also made a habit of working on television with Harry Potter director David Yates: projects together include State of Play (2003), The Young Visiters (2003), The Girl in the Café (2005) and Page Eight (2011).

He played the part of "Sam Gamgee" in the original BBC radio production of The Lord of the Rings alongside Ian Holm as "Frodo". Peter Jackson (director of the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)) gave this version to those members of his cast who hadn't read the book.

"A Map of the World", Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and David Hare's Skylight.

He has a daughter, Mary Nighy (born July 17, 1984) with Diana Quick, who was his long-time partner.

Nighy has also had an active career on the small screen, beginning with Agony (1979), and his first widely-recognized role was in 1991 mini-series The Men's Room (1991).

Bill Nighy is an award-winning British character actor. He was born William Francis Nighy on December 12, 1949 in Caterham, Surrey, England, to Catherine Josephine (Whittaker), a psychiatric nurse from Glasgow, and Alfred Martin Nighy, who was English-born and managed a garage in Croydon. At school, he gained 'O'-levels in English Language and English Literature and enjoyed reading, particularly Ernest Hemingway. On leaving school he wanted to become a journalist but didn't have the required qualifications. He eventually went on to work as a messenger boy for the Field magazine. He stayed in Paris for a while because he wanted to write "the great novel", but he only managed to write the title. When he ran out of money, the British consul shipped him home. Nighy wound up training at Guildford School of Dance and Drama in London, and has since then worked consistently in film, television, and on stage.