Bill Nighy’s Perfect Character | FilmInk

The film is Living, a delicate but devastating adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1955 movie Ikiru, which starred Takeshi Shimura.

Directed by Oliver Hermanus, the film has gained Nighy the first Oscar nomination of his career – in the Best Actor category – pitting him against Colin Farrell, Austin Butler, Brendan Fraser, and Paul Mescal.

For the 73-year-old actor, famed for his roles in Love, Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, it’s a moment to savour in a career that deserves full recognition.

At the Venice Film Festival, Nighy spoke to FilmInk about the difficulties of living life to the full, the joy of bowler hats, and why he never takes holidays.

How did you get involved with Living?

“The film came about because I went to dinner with Stephen Woolley, the great British film producer, and his wife, Elizabeth Karlsen, the other great British film producer. And the other guests, who I’d never met before, were Kazuo Ishiguro and his wife [Lorna MacDougall]. And, at the end of dinner, Mr. Ishiguro said that “we” – meaning he and his wife – knew what my next film should be. They were sort of whispering in a corner. And then they came out and said that. So, I said, ‘Well, when you feel ready, let me know.’ And then later, Stephen rang up and said that the suggestion was that we adapt Ikiru. So that was how it came about.”

Do you think Living is very different to Ikiru, given the British setting and so forth?

“I think the atmosphere is fundamentally different, but the themes remain the same, obviously, which is what makes the film valuable and interesting to me. But, yeah, as you say, the setting [is different] being post-war London, still reeling from the Blitz. I wouldn’t be the first person to compare… I don’t think they’re alike, but there are parallels between the way that Japanese people express themselves in society and the way that the English do.”

Is this a perfect character for you?

“Yeah, I think it is. I like playing these kinds of parts. I like playing decent men, whose first instinct is to do the right thing. For them, doing the wrong thing is not an option. It’s always considered to be slightly eccentric, people who play by the rules. One of my favourite books is Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford, and the central character gets into so much trouble, because he attempts to behave well all the time. But it’s completely misread by the society around him, because they can’t believe that anyone’s like this. They presume that he must be a scoundrel. And he apologises at one point and says, ‘I’m sorry, I know I should have, but I never really recovered from my education’, which is quite an ironic remark. But I’m interested in those guys and that kind of heroism that goes on. It is not front page news. Just people who fulfil their responsibilities to themselves, to their families, to their friends. And they do live according to certain principles, and they stick to it. It’s not in a reactionary way. And their manners are not merely strategic, they’re there for their own sake and because they are desirable in every way.”

Do you think the film is much more about living life than it is about someone who’s got an illness?

“Absolutely. People always say that irritating thing… live as if it’s the last day you’re ever going to have, and no one can do it. I’ve tried.”

What did you do?

“A couple of times when I thought I was probably ill, or something…everything suddenly looks wonderful. Everything around you is precious and treasurable. Once, a doctor frightened me, and it turned out to be nothing at all, but she frightened me. And I did actually call my daughter, and I called her mum. And I didn’t say ‘I think I’m probably dying’, I just said ‘Hey’…but it was that kind of thing. And everything suddenly looked very, very important and precious. But it’s about a man who was not living, and then the trigger was the ultimatum. And he started to try and live and have some meaning in his life.”

Did making this have an emotional impact on you?

“I think it did. You’re forced to study someone in extremis who reacts in a heroic manner. And also, in an exemplary manner. It made me think of my father a lot, because my father was a very reserved and restrained person. He was also a very wonderful person and very good fun, a nice man. But he was very principled, to the point of what other people would have thought was eccentricity. And he lived according to those principles. He was quiet without any fuss. He just had made certain decisions, and he stuck to them. And not everyone can pull that off.”

He was from that same era as your character, Williams?

“Yeah, not much in it. Not much in it. I mean, I would have been one of those kids. It’s frightening when you look at black-and-white footage and you think, ‘I wore those shorts!’ I would have been in the playground. I would have been five or six or something.”

Did it make you feel nostalgic for the 1950s?

“No, not really. Because there was much wrong with that era, and we’ve made adjustments – very desirable adjustments. And there have been many fabulous developments since then. But it made me nostalgic for the clothes. That’s for sure. It occurred to me that you could take thirty people off the street now and put them in a room and line them up. And maybe seven of them would look okay. In my view. What’s it got to do with me? Nothing. But any time from about 1947 to 1952, they would all look marvellous, because they all had a shape. The women’s clothes then were really beautiful.”

The Sandy Powell-designed costumes in the film are glorious. What was it like to suit up?

“The bowler hat, never having worn one really seriously before, is the most bizarre thing to have caught on! Everybody wore one. I mean, if a brick fell on your head, you’d be fine. Somebody could smash you in the head… you’d survive. They’re really rock hard. It takes some wearing.”

So, you never thirsted to work in a bank and wear one?

“When I was coming out of school and thinking about what to do… I wasn’t any good at knowing what I wanted to do, but I was pretty certain what I didn’t want to do. And one of them was go to the same place every day. And I didn’t want to know how much I was going to be making in twenty-five years. I wanted to be in with a chance. You know what I mean?”

This film, though, is your chance to be in one of those classic 1940s, ’50s British movies in a way…

“Yeah, and for Stephen Woolley and for Kazuo Ishiguro and for Oliver [Hermanus] and for me, I think that’s a large part of its appeal – to honour those films. The film is about, as much as anything, procrastination, and that is an eternal [problem].”

Have you stopped procrastinating now?

“I can’t say that I’ve fully retired as a procrastinator, but I am better. There are still a few things that I could put a bomb under and try and do rather than not do. I’m better on the small stuff but the big stuff I still procrastinate. One day I’ll have a holiday for instance.”

Are you not a holidayer?

“I never know what to do. I go on holidays and they’re so sad. I never go to the right place. It usually rains. I ended up on a beach in England. I won’t say where because I don’t want to insult them. And I had to buy a pac a mac and an umbrella. And I ended up on this beach with no one else in a pac a mac with an umbrella. And I thought, ‘Everyone I know is in Tuscany or Marbella!’ One day, I’ll go somewhere…”

Do you worry about getting older?

“I’m as easy-going as you can [be]. I’m not that worried about it. As somebody said, ‘I’m not frightened of dying, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.’ Getting older… I’m a lucky guy. You just have to accentuate the positives. The fact that we’ve made it this far is not a bad thing.”

What do you have coming up that you’re really excited about?

“I have another film coming out called The Beautiful Game. It’s about a real thing, which happens in a different country every year. Sixty nations send a homeless football team to the Homeless World Cup. Many eminent people are involved. It was started by a Scotsman in Edinburgh twenty years ago. It’s a big event. And we have a fictional one written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. And it’s directed by Thea Sharrock. It’s a Graham Broadbent production. And it’s me and a bunch of young maniacs in Rome and I’m the England manager and you’re allowed to laugh! It should be good fun.

Living is in cinemas from March 16, 2023, with previews March 10-12, 2023