One of my new favorite character actors is Bill Nighy. I first noticed him in Love Actually and then enjoyed him in Shaun of the Dead. I wondered how they say his name in England. Is it Nie-ee or just Nye?
I’ve always heard it pronounced “Bill Nye-hee”; I believe the DVD commentary of Love Actually has it pronounced this way.
Other places to find him:
“The Constant Gardener”. In my top 3 of movies from 2005. He doesn’t play a good guy.
Also, “Hitchhiker’s Guide” and he stars in the HBO movie “The Girl in the Cafe”, which I personally found boring, but some people liked it.
He’s also in both Underworld movies.
I love the guy.
He played Sam Gamgee in the BBC radio play version of Lord of The Rings some years back, and was fantastic. When the announcer rattled off the credits, the name was pronounced William NY-hee.
I was just listening to the commentary for “I Capture the Castle,” and it was pronounced NY-hee.
I adore that man. And once you know who he is, he pops up everywhere. Oh, and I would recommend Blow Dry, also starring Alan Rickman and Josh Hartnett–not the best movie ever made, but some of it is so ridiculous that you can’t help but enjoy it. It’s a true guilty pleasure for me, usually watched as part of a double feature with Strictly Ballroom.
Definitely Nye-Hee. I loved him in several movies mentioned and “Shaun of the Dead” too.
He does commentary for Shaun of the Dead and pronounces it himself. It is, indeed, Ny-hee.
I must admit I wasn’t sure myself until then, though I’ve seen him in movies and TV shows for quite a long while. He’s particularly good in a recent series of Auf Weidersehen, Pet.