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Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy Books

Actor

Bill Nighy is a versatile British actor, born on December 12, 1949. He has made notable contributions to film, television, and theater, known for his unique acting style and diverse range of roles.

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Related Quotes

“One of the things that is assumed about actors is that they are extrovert, which is almost never the case, in my experience.”

Actors Cases Extroverts

Author:Bill Nighy

“If you ever see me in a social setting wearing any sort of sportswear, then you know I'm in crisis.”

Ifs Knows Social Crisis Setting Settings

Author:Bill Nighy

“I have no memory, any at all, of actually performing the play, no recall in terms of the lines. I can't tell you any line from any play I've ever done.”

I Can Done Play Term Lines Memories Performing Recalls No Memory

Author:Bill Nighy

“I quoted David Hare one of his lines the other day to illuminate whatever point we were trying to make in the conversation, and I said 'What play was that?' and he said 'It was your line, you said it about a hundred and fifty times in The Vertical Hour.'”

Trying Said Play Hours Lines Conversation Hundred Fifty Hares Vertical

Author:Bill Nighy

“I admire David Hare as much as I admire certainly any writer ever. What I like about his writing is it is very conscientiously, in one way, an attempt to reproduce the way people actually speak, but it's not just an attempt at naturalism. It's stylised and it's heightened, to great effect. It's elegant and it's funny and that's the way to my heart, frankly.”

People Way Writing Heart Speak Effects My Heart Admire One Way Elegant Naturalism Hares

Author:Bill Nighy

“Opening a play is just tough. The idea that actors are weirdly protected from it is a myth. If you imagine yourself having to spend two and a bit hours cooking bolognaise, remembering a whole major work by David Hare and speaking it at the correct moment between chopping carrots and stirring the onions in front of an audience - the normal human response is 'Please, can I go to the airport?'”

“It's more than usually possible that I won't do a play again. But Skylight is one of the great plays in the English language. I was lucky enough to be a part of it at one point in its life, and it's a timely thing to deliver it again in the modern world.”

World Enough Play Language Modern Lucky Modern World English Language Timely Skylights

Author:Bill Nighy

“When you are in something that you're proud of and it's funny and it's a good night out and all of those things, there's nothing quite like it. The rewards are proportionate to the amount of alarm and distress it causes you.”

Night Causes Amount Proud Rewards Distress Alarms Good Night

Author:Bill Nighy

“With stage, you feel completely like you're just in a bubble. I love not being able to see anything. I love coming out and I can't see anything because the lights are so bright and it's pitch black. That's ideal for me, that's when I have the best time.”

Feels I Can Light Able Black Stage Like You Ideals Coming Out Bubbles Best Times Pitch Black

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm just aware of what I'm thinking and feeling but I do obviously have to get that to the back of the auditorium. So there are things like projection and filling the room, and not dropping the ends of lines - technical things which are important, but I don't think they change the way I feel in a scene.”

Thinking Way Feels Important Ends Feelings Lines Rooms Scene Filling Projection Dropping Auditoriums

Author:Bill Nighy

“The job is the same - to attempt to make it sound like you've never said it before and as if it's just occurred to you. And that's the same whether you're on camera or whether you're on stage in a room full of people.”

People Ifs Said Jobs Sound Rooms Stage Like You Cameras

Author:Bill Nighy

“Somebody asked me recently, 'Have you done a lot of plays?' I thought hang on. I used to do nothing but plays. I've been very fortunate that on several occasions I've had jobs where I didn't want to be anywhere else in the world whatever you had to offer - however much money you've got.”

World Want Done Play Jobs Used Offers Occasions Fortunate

Author:Bill Nighy

“One is that you legislate according to natural selection, the other is that you don't. You have compassion, you try and help people. It's a fundamental clash between two people who happen to love each other, which complicates everything.”

People Trying Two Helping Happens Natural Compassion Fundamentals Selection Clash Love Each Other Natural Selection

Author:Bill Nighy

“I never go on the net or the web, or whatever it's called.”

Author:Bill Nighy

“I have never owned a computer. I am one of those weirdos. I've never needed a computer. I'm lucky that I have a job where I'm not required to use one.”

Use Jobs Needed Lucky Computer Weirdo

Author:Bill Nighy

“I love imaginative representations of a possible near-future, where you look at the technology and you think, "Well, yeah, that could really nearly be true." I like those kinds of backgrounds.”

Thinking Wells Looks Kind Technology Yeah Backgrounds Being True Representation Imaginative

Author:Bill Nighy

“I do think 3D has seriously improved, since I was a boy. It's fabulous.”

Thinking Boys Fabulous

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm lucky that I get to play a wide variety of parts.”

Play Lucky Wide Variety

Author:Bill Nighy

“In the street, people talk to you about all kinds of things, but by far, the most number of people talk to me about Love, Actually.”

People Kind Numbers Streets All Kinds Talk To Me Love Actually

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm probably the only person who actually remembers pirate radio.”

Persons Remember Radio Pirate Pirate Radio

Author:Bill Nighy

“I like American black soul music, that was my first big enthusiasm.”

Firsts Soul Bigs Black Enthusiasm Music Soul

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm not a World War II buff. I know a little bit about it, I was taught the other side of the story in school, so it was unfamiliar to me, the idea of a German resistance, and yet it was considerable.”

Knows World Littles Ideas War Stories School Bits Sides Taught Little Bit Resistance War Of The Worlds World War Ii World War I Unfamiliar

Author:Bill Nighy

“Anti-Semitism and Fascism have a long, mysterious, bewildering, poisonous and vile history and it's not exclusive to the Germans.”

Long Mysterious Fascism Exclusive Poisonous Anti Semitism

Author:Bill Nighy

“I love playing half squid/half crab guy because you can get away with a level of acting that if you tried it anywhere else they'd arrest you for crimes against acting.”

Ifs Guy Levels Acting Half Crime Get Away Crabs Squids

Author:Bill Nighy

“You tell yourself that you're not auditioning but of course you work like crazy, and you prepare like mad. And you think, "Well, I won't get that job. But maybe they'll have another job sometime, and they'll remember that I was good."”

Thinking Wells Jobs Remember Courses Crazy Mad

Author:Bill Nighy

“If you ask any actor "What single thing would make you really, really happy?" Among the top five things they'd say is not having to audition anymore.”

Ifs Actors Asks Five Auditions Really Happy

Author:Bill Nighy

“Often in America people would assume that [as an English actor] you've had some sort of deep, classical training, or that you're a Shakespeare enthusiast. I have zero interest in me performing Shakespeare.”

People America Actors Interest Training Assuming Performing Zero

Author:Bill Nighy

“I used to joke that one of the reasons there was a lack of classical work on my CV was because I couldn't operate in those kinds of trousers. Which is a joke, but it's actually also true - if I want to appear in public I want to look my best. If I'm onstage I like to do contemporary work, largely because of the trousers, because of the clothes. I like a decent, what we used to call a lounge suit. Then I can start to motor.”

Ifs Want Looks Kind I Can Reason Used Clothes Jokes Contemporary Suits Decent Motor Trousers

Author:Bill Nighy

“I really have no interest in delivering the iambic pentameter, I just want to kill myself. I don't mind other people doing it. I say that, but really I don't want to watch other people doing it. I get embarrassed.”

People Want Mind Interest Watches Embarrassed Delivering

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm crazy about James Brown. I'm crazy about soul music. And then the blues. Rhythm and blues.”

Soul Crazy Rhythm Brown Music Soul Rhythm And Blues

Author:Bill Nighy

“Standing in front of a fake mountain with fake snow falling and seven girls dressed as Santarettes will stay in my memory.”

Fall Girl Memories Fronts Mountain Standing Seven Snow Fake Snow Falling

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm not an actor who consciously accesses bits of my life, in order to play parts. Obviously, you don't need to have been a father to play one, otherwise everyone who's been a father would be able to act.”

Needs Has Beens Play Would Be Able Order Actors Father Bits Access

Author:Bill Nighy

“I would like to change everything, but obviously not everything. I've been incredibly fortunate. I guess everybody would do this, but I'd go back to my younger self and say, "Lighten up. Take it easy. Relax. Don't be so anxious about everything. Try to be in the day. Try to not have today stolen from you by anxiety about yesterday or tomorrow."”

Trying Self Today Easy Tomorrow Anxiety Yesterday Fortunate Relax Anxious Stolen Take It Easy Younger Self

Author:Bill Nighy

“To be serious, the things you really want to relive are things like bedtime with your daughter when she becomes incredibly entertaining 'cause she doesn't want to go to sleep. They're at their most enchanting 'cause they just want to put it off, so they do a cabaret for you. You sit there thinking, "Please don't let this end."”

Thinking Want Ends Causes Sleep Serious Please Daughter Entertaining Going To Sleep Bedtime Our Daughter Your Daughter Enchanting Cabaret

Author:Bill Nighy

“When people warned me there would be long periods out of work if I became an actor, I couldn't keep a straight face because that was exactly what I had in mind.”

People Ifs Mind Long Would Be Faces Actors Periods Straight Face

Author:Bill Nighy

“There is something, yeah, I mean traditionally it's more fun to play bad guys than it is good guys and when you're playing a bad guy, yeah, the fun in it is to see how scary you can be, how horrible you can be. And it's surprising what you come up with.”

Mean Play Guy Fun Yeah Come Up Scary Horrible Surprising Bad Guys Good Guy

Author:Bill Nighy

“If I ruled the world, every woman would have a Chanel suit in her wardrobe.”

Ifs World Suits Wardrobe

Author:Bill Nighy

“Never go anywhere you have to wear brown shoes.”

Author:Bill Nighy

“You can ruin your life wanting to be an actor.”

Author:Bill Nighy

“You get older and you see yourself and say, 'God, he's old, who's that?'”

Author:Bill Nighy

“If I'm going to appear in front of people I like to look my best.”

People Ifs Looks Fronts

Author:Bill Nighy

“It's probably healthier to find fame later in life.”

Fame Later In Life

Author:Bill Nighy

“I think in the old days, everybody used to act really quickly because Hollywood was built by theatre people.”

People Thinking Used Built Hollywood Theatre Old Days

Author:Bill Nighy

“I never mind doing press; it's never bothered me.”

Mind Presses Bothered

Author:Bill Nighy

“More people saw me in 'Love Actually' than had seen me in everything else I had ever done up to that point.”

People Done Saws Love Actually

Author:Bill Nighy

“Jerry Bruckheimer says that he makes films that he would want to see, and it seems that that coincides with what a lot of people want to see.”

People Want Seems Film Jerry

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm not famous for my back story investigations; I'm lucky that I work with good writers and it's usually in the script.”

Stories Lucky Scripts Investigation Good Writers

Author:Bill Nighy

“I'm one of those weird people who doesn't even own a computer.”

People Computer Weird People

Author:Bill Nighy

“When it comes to casual clothing, my enthusiasm for clothes starts to waver.”

Clothes Enthusiasm Clothings Casual

Author:Bill Nighy

“When a movie is called 'searingly honest,' it's almost invariably grim and demonstrates how bad things can get.”

Honest Bad Things Grim

Author:Bill Nighy

About the Author

Born: December 12, 1949
Known for: Actor
Quotes: 102

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