Could I bother you for a club soda with ice and fresh lime?
Nighy asks the waiter.
Ive been looking so much forward to seeing you, she tells him after a kiss on both cheeks.
Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We were just speaking aboutLove ActuallyandRed Nose Day.
There is some connective DNA between Billy Mack and Ambrose Hilliard, dont you think?
Theyre both a bit washed up.BILL NIGHY:Im quite good at washed up.
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And faded as well.
Those things are within my grasp.
And, yes, there are similarities.
Theyre older guys who rally even when things should be over for them.
Im fortunate to get these parts at my age.
Obviously, they were looking for someone to play a chronically self-absorbed, pompous actor in his declining years.
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And they came to me.
I should just shut up, not ask too many questions, and be grateful.
In the beginning of the film, someone calls you the man with the glint.Yeah, that was tough.
I read that part and I thought, How do you do aglint?
Youre not aware that you have a glint?
A sort of charismatic wink?Oh, no.
Im not being cute but Im fundamentally unaware of that.
I dont live in a world where Im charismatic.
But what about when youre acting?
Are you aware that it comes across?I go to work and I hope for the best.
Honestly, I was worried about manufacturing a glint for this film.
Well, your character also complains about being offered corpse roles.
Kind of funny considering youve played the undead in a fewUnderworldmovies andShaun of the Dead.Oh, yeah.
I enjoy playing undead.
But youre not yourself offered corpse roles, are you?Not yet.
Its coming soon, Im afraid, when Ill be asked to play a dead body.
I do tend to die more often in recent times.
And Ive also been a grandfather onscreen.
My first movie grandchild was born to the lovely Rachel McAdams [inAbout Time].
I couldnt have been more blessed.
You mentioned to me that youve recently had your eyes done.Oh, God.
I had lens replacement surgery.
Im not even sure what they did because I didnt want to ask.
Whenever the doctor got technical, I stopped listening.
All I know is, it wasnt painful and it took 14 minutes on each eye.
Thats why everybody always acts weirdly around me.
Ive been 46 for years.
Then I had my eyes fixed and suddenly I knew how old I was.
So thats why everybody calls me Sir.
I realized that Im one of those old guys.
I should be so lucky.
There is a wonderful moment inTheir Finestwhen you sing Wild Mountain Thyme.
Its really beautifully done.That was [director] Lone Scherfigs idea.
It wasnt in the script originally, if I remember correctly.
And its a lovely idea, given the brutal time, one of the worst periods in British history.
I really dont mind, of course.
Theres a bigger story to tell.
It takes me too long to recover.
It has nothing to do with the movies.
But I stopped watching myself very early on because it was too upsetting.
So this was the case even when you were a younger actor?Definitely.
What was the problem?
Did you see things that you wish youd done differently?All I see are my mistakes.
Nobody else knows about it and thats fine.
And I think, Oh, man, its just the same old blues.
But conversely, can you feel it when everything is clicking?
Near the end ofTheir Finest, your character says, I wasverygood.
There are so many elements that have to come together for the conditions to be right.
But I think I know when its any good.
Most of the time its half-good.
But now and again I feel like, Yeah, I know exactly how to do this.
Does that happen more in theater, where youre maybe a bit more in control?It does.
Thats quite a big thing for me to think.
Thats not your natural state of mind?Not at all.
I was middle-aged before I ever felt that.
And now whenever it happens on stage, its a wet Wednesday matinee.
There are eight people in the audience.
Three of them are asleep.
And suddenly everything flows out of me perfectly.
Why was this ever a problem?
In the film-within-the-film, theres a hilarious moment where Uncle Frank is on his boat.
[Laughs] I enjoyed doing that.
And that film youre making inTheir Finestis about Dunkirk.
I think youre one of the only British actors whos not in Christopher Nolans upcomingmovieDunkirk.No, Im not.
My friend James DArcy is in that movie.
Hes a major fan of Christopher Nolan, like myself and most people.
But how do you handle fame?
And you think about yourself?Yeah.
Why dont I just unplug everything and move to the country and buy a dog?
But we all fantasize and improvise our lives to a certain degree, dont we?
In the end, I keep going on being an actor.
Im not sustained by precedent.
Generally, every morning, I have to start from scratch.
