Bill Nighy on the refreshing attitude in “Pride”

Bill Nighy’s (Rufus Scrimgeour) latest film Pride, in which he co-stars with former Potter stars Imelda Staunton (Professor Umbridge) and Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown), was released in British theaters a couple of weeks ago. The film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Bill spoke to the LA Times. The film is due to be released in US theaters this week. In this interview, Bill talks about getting the film made, the way that attitudes have changed over the last 30 years, and his career so far.

Bill reflects on the way that attitudes have changed in his own lifetime:

[Being gay] just stopped being an imprisonable offense in my lifetime. They could get seven years for any public display of affection. […] It was only 30 years ago that a national newspaper in England could describe the gay community as the slime of society, and no one commented.

On the way that Pride deals with both the gay and the mining community Bill says,

It’s beyond refreshing to get a movie that treats these decent men and women who worked in the mining community with dignity and respect. They were being beaten up by the police and being invented as enemies of the state.

Other than talking about Pride, Bill also looks back at his long and varied career:

Nighy said he often has to ‘pinch himself’ over his good fortune of working multiple times with such noted writers as Richard Curtis, Tom Stoppard and especially David Hare.

‘I’ve worked with David Hare all my life,’ he said. ‘I think he counted the other day, and it comes up to 10 times.’

Finally, Bill comments on how he was relieved that his fame in Love Actually came along a little later in his career:

I wasn’t very good at being young. I made a bit of a meal of it. If I had known if things were going to work out, I would have arranged to be more cheerful along the way.

Read the full interview here (although, beware, it does contain some spoilers for the film). If you haven’t read it, yet, or if you’re not sure whether to see the film, check out our review here, and see the trailer here. And don’t forget to read our interview with Jessie Cave about Pride and much more.

Have you managed to see Pride, yet? Are you planning on seeing it when it does come out near you?