Marigold Hotel star is on stage in Skylight
Most people binge on The Walking Dead or House of Cards. Bill Nighy binges on Virginia Woolf.
The English actor known for such films as Love Actually and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is currently reading The Voyage Out, his fifth Woolf book in a row.
“It’s taken me all my life to get to Virginia Woolf and I realize, as usual, I’ve been postponing something completely marvellous,” he said. “I just find them completely compelling.”
That Nighy would be gorging on an eminent novelist from the inter- war period seems to speak to both the actor’s intellectual motor and his childlike glee. Actually, he’s in New York for another sort of binge — his 10th project with playwright David Hare.
In the play Skylight, Carey Mulligan plays a woman who works at an inner- city high school and receives an unexpected visit one night from her ex- lover, a recently widowed and wealthy restaurateur played by Nighy.
It’s Nighy’s first return to the New York stage since 2006 and he admits to some nerves.
“I just sit here thinking, ‘ Why aren’t I on a film set with somebody bringing me a Snickers bar and a triple macchiato?’ I’m like, ‘ Why do I put myself through this?’ Truly,” he said. “I’m not even kidding.”
Nighy has arrived at rehearsals at the Golden Theatre in a trademark tailored suit and dark- rimmed glasses. His long hair, honest grace and self- deprecating charm have made him a sex symbol in his 60s.
Asking him about it makes him squirm. “I wouldn’t even dare to speculate what women think in that area. I just wouldn’t, honestly,” he said. “If you ever find me posing as an expert in that area, call a cab.”
Skylight, which had a well- re- ceived run in London’s West End last summer, also stars Matthew Beard, who plays Nighy ’s son. Beard was terrified when he made his debut in London, but, to his delight, his older co- star constantly checked to make sure he was OK and happy.
Nighy, whose latest films include Pride and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, remembers first seeing Skylight when it made its world debut in 1995 in London starring Michael Gambon in his role. Nighy was “bowled over.”
“When I saw Skylight, I sword-fenced all the way home, as it were. Like, when you were a kid and you went to the pictures and you’d see a sword- fighting movie you would sword- fight all the way home,” he said. “I was exactly like that when I saw Skylight.”