A role he couldn't refuse

Villainous: Bill Nighy plays the bad guy in 3D guinea pig spy flick G-Force. Photo / Supplied

Who would have envisioned that theatre-trained, award-winning, revered British thespian Bill Nighy would wind up starring in a 3D animated kids' movie about guinea pigs moonlighting as secret agents?

Sipping cappuccino in his New York hotel room, 59-year-old Nighy says, simply, "If Jerry Bruckheimer calls, you don't really need to hear anything except the words 'Jerry' and 'Bruckheimer'. You have an assurance of a high-quality movie. Besides that, although I have learned to turn down work in recent years, it still makes me nervous. I've been around a while and there was a time when I would never have turned down anything."

With a background on the West End and Broadway, as well as numerous film roles in serious fare such as Notes on a Scandal, The Constant Gardener, Valkyrie and the long-running TV drama State of Play, it could be considered an unusual choice. But Nighy has also enjoyed a second wind in his career in other genres such as Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead, two Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and Underworld and its sequels.

Directed by Oscar-winning special effects whizz Hoyt Yeatman Jr, G-Force marks Bruckheimer's first foray into the world of 3D. Nighy plays the movie's prominent live action role as the villain and crazy billionaire who does battle with a team of animated guinea pig spies voiced by Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan, Steve Buscemi and Penelope Cruz.

Nighy grew up in Surrey, England, wanting to be a rock star. "I wanted to be in the Rolling Stones, more than I wanted to be a musician. And like everybody else, I practised in front of the wardrobe mirror, singing into my hairbrush and moving in a way that might suggest I'd be good in bed," he says. "I rehearsed a band briefly in the garage but we never got out of the garage because we were just an above-average mess. It would have been impossible for me to be a musician because I have Dupuytren's Contracture, a progressive condition where your fingers curl over. It's quite common, actually. My mother had it and it's hereditary," he says, raising his hands to expose his inability to straighten his fingers. Despite his affliction, he has no problem texting on his Blackberry, which he does intermittently throughout the interview.

Although his first career dream was never realised, he played a couple of memorable rockers. "Yes, I've played middle-aged rock 'n' roll fools. One was in Still Crazy and the other was in Love Actually," he says.

To play any kind of rocker, ageing or otherwise, would imply a certain sexual mystique is required. In fact, Nighy has often been referred to as "the thinking woman's sex symbol". He laughs. "Well, look at me. It's the most unlikely thing. I have serious difficulty thinking of myself in that way but there is a part of me that is forever grateful that you asked me that question. In England, they use the expression, 'the thinking woman's crumpet'. I suggested they use the less blush-making title of 'the drinking woman's crumpet'. Actually, Christopher Walken, an actor I admire, was asked one time how he felt about being 'the thinking woman's crumpet'. After a long pause, he said, 'Is that some kind of bagel?' I think that was the most beautiful answer," he laughs.

Despite his sexual allure, Nighy says he wouldn't have done well living the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle. "When I was a kid I wanted to be like F. Scott Fitzgerald. I wanted to write killer sentences that would break girls' hearts. I wanted to get a girlfriend, like everybody does. I thought somewhere there was the future Mrs Nighy and they were getting her ready for me. So I was useless with girls because I didn't want to cheat on her before she turned up, you know what I mean? I was ludicrously romantic," he laughs.

That woman turned out to be actress Diana Quick (Brideshead Revisited), often touted as 'the most beautiful woman of her generation". After a 27-year relationship which produced one daughter, Mary Nighy, 25, they recently split.

Set to join the cast of Harry Potter, Nighy will take on the role of wizard Rufus Scrimgeour. "I'm a serious wizard because I'm the Minister of Magic. That's very heavy in Harry Potter terms. I've watched all the films, although I haven't read the books, but I'm very pleased about the role. I know most of the people in it. Actually, I was beginning to feel excluded, so it's about time, thank you very much, that I'm in one of them!"

In a reflective moment, he says of his career. "I have a gift for negative propaganda in my mind so I never expected anything. I never had plans or goals and I'm always slightly shocked when anything good happens.

"Although I'm tired of this way of thinking, never a day goes by where I'm not eternally grateful that I've been able to pay the rent and make a living as an actor. I know people don't believe you when you say this, but the odds of that happening are enormously long."