The (Un)conventional Role

Bill Nighy is slowly gathering fame in North America as one of the finer actors Britain has produced. Of course, the roles that we have seen him in are a little grandiose and different from the ones he is used to.

One of the first roles that introduced him to us came from the movie "Underworld." There he played a centuries old vampire lord released prematurely from an induced slumber. The next big role was a distant stepfather turned zombie in the romantic horror "Shaun of the Dead." Most recently and most notable is his turn as tentacle covered CGI Davy Jones in the last two Pirates of the Caribbean films. He even had a small cameo as an absent minded planet creator in "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."

These roles are enjoyable to Nighy and has noted them as fun little diversions from his normal acting choices. What most of us may not realize is that he has had a stint of more conventional film roles that should offer him the same merit that his more fantastical ones do.

The most recent of his "normal" roles comes from 2006 with "Notes on a Scandal." Here he plays a cuckolded husband Cate Blanchett's character. His role provided him the material with which to be an angry presence on the screen but not partake in the chewing of scenery like "Underworld" or "Pirates."

In 2005 he got a double dose of the more down to Earth features with a roles in "The Constant Gardener" and "The Girl in the Café." The most notable is "The Girl in the Café" as it was a British television movie with little press in the states but seems to have garnered him more attention than his role in "The Constant Gardener." To be fair his role in "The Girl in the Café" was more impressive in how understated he was than his role in "The Constant Gardener."

And then there is "Love Actually," for a British film it got quite a bit of attention in the states. It should have as it had a number of recognizable stars in it, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson.

Though not lauded in the press for his role as Billy Mack those that do bring up the film always mention his performance as the lovelorn older gentleman.

Before all of that he had a steady string of British television shows, mostly mysteries and the like. He even had a role in the highly underrated "Still Crazy." The film chronicles a washed up band trying to recapture their youth through a reunion and wonder if it may be too late for them.

So, when you see "Pirates of the Caribbean" and wonder what may be in store for the tentacle-faced Jones think about the roles of the man behind the CGI. With a career as varied as his maybe you might see him in the next "Harry Potter" or the next romantic comedy.