Quote of the Day (Bill Nighy, on Leading-Man Roles)

“Young actors have difficulty separating their job from how they generally feel about stuff, and I had difficulty because if I had to sort of be attractive to a girl in a film or on television…I had zero confidence in that area on a personal level. It took me years to realize, oh, you just act it. They don’t know that you’re actually physically repulsive and not eligible to be intimate with a woman.”—British actor Bill Nighy quoted in Alexandra Wolfe, “Weekend Confidential: Bill Nighy: The Tony-Nominated Actor on the Trials of Theater, The Advantages of Age and the Call of Coffee,” The Wall Street Journal, May 30-31, 2015

Bill Nighy—born 75 years ago today in Caterham, Surrey, England—is proof that you don’t have to have leading-man looks to have a long, distinguished career as an actor.

This versatile character actor has appeared in all kinds of movies, including Notes on a Scandal and the Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Underworld franchises. But he’s likely to be best remembered by my readers for a romantic comedy that shows up on the small screen repeatedly this time of year.

Let me state my position on Love Actually right away: it is so eager to please that it’s like a St. Bernard that can’t stop licking your face. It’s simply too, too much.

But Nighy (pictured here, from the film) manages to rescue listeners from overdosing on all this sugar with his hilarious turn as vintage rocker Billy Mack, hoping for a return to the charts with a new version of his hit, "Christmas Is All Around."

Two years ago, in an interview with the British paper The Independent, Nighy even thought that a quote from the film would lead off his obituary:

“Hiya, kids! Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don’t buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free!”