LONDON — Despite being an actor for more than five decades, Bill Nighy still has moments when he can’t believe his own life. The other day, for instance, Nighy went into a London coffee shop and the barista refused to accept his money. It’s happened to him occasionally, particularly with taxi drivers, but it always takes him by surprise.“They said, ‘No, no, no, you’re not paying for that, ’” Nighy recalls, sitting in the Ham Yard Hotel in London. “I walked away and I caught myself and I was thinking, ‘God, that would be great if that was happening to you. ’ Like, that would be a nice thing if it was happening to someone else. And I realized I’ve always made that disconnect where I don’t really accept it as my personal experience. ”Now, more than ever, Nighy feels like he’s on the outside of his own experiences. His acclaimed new movie, “Living, ” has swept him into whirlwind of film festivals, global promotion and, possibly, a forthcoming Oscar nod for lead actor. He’s had a taste of this sort of attention before — Nighy won a BAFTA for “Love Actually” and earned a SAG nomination for “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. ”But “Living” is on another level.“I thought at the time this was a significant movie, don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t think I was going to get phone calls from people saying, ‘I can’t get into the cinema, ’” Nighy says.“I’m not used to that. I mean, I make good films, but they’re not always the films people are drawn to. ”Based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film “Ikiru, ” “Living” was written by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro and directed by Oliver Hermanus, and has undeniably gifted Nighy one of the best roles of his career. The actor, 73, plays a stoic English businessman named Mr. Williams, whose government job is to enable so much bureaucracy that nothing gets done. When Mr. Williams learns he is dying, uncomfortable self-reflection leads to newfound boldness. For Nighy, who was cast before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Living” was compelling because of who was involved and, simply, because it was a great role. An English-language version of the story was suggested to Nighy by Ishiguro at a dinner party several years ago, and producer Stephen Woolley eventually persuaded Ishiguro to write it. Ishiguro and Hermanus workshopped the screenplay throughout the pandemic, and once it was complete, Nighy could sense it was special.“I knew that if I didn’t mess it up, it would be something, ” Nighy says. “But I didn’t imagine this. The response has been marvelous. People — rational people, people who are not drunk or high — have said great stuff. Really big stuff where you’re standing there going, ‘Really? ’”“Living” was filmed primarily in London in summer 2021, and it was the first thing Nighy shot after a year of pandemic closures. He had holed up in Suffolk, where he mostly watched TV or sat under trees and read (“I didn’t do anything useful”).
All data is taken from the source: http://latimes.com
Article Link: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-12-26/bill-nighy-on-mortality-fandom-and-the-acclaim-surrounding-his-role-in-living
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