Role Call: Big Things for Bill Nighy!
Welcome to MuggleNet’s weekly Role Call! In this week’s Casting News, we have a ton of new ventures and projects to look forward to with the Potter alumni. Bill Nighy takes the lead in this one with his many upcoming films, and there’s also exciting news for fans of Dame Maggie Smith and Stephen Fry. Read on for this and much more in this week’s Role Call!
Bill Nighy (Rufus Scrimgeour) is starring in the upcoming Victorian thriller The Limehouse Golem in a part that was originally meant for Alan Rickman, who left the film very shortly before his death. In an interview with the Guardian, Nighy talks about taking up the role, saying,
I didn’t have any reservations. I was very proud to be considered in those terms. I knew Alan reasonably well and I was a great admirer, like everyone else who came into contact with him.
He discusses this and more in the interview. Nighy may have had a great time working on the film, but not all was fun and games. In conversation with the Hollywood Reporter, he talks about how the cast caught the end of Hurricane Katie in the UK while shooting the film, saying,
The electricians had to throw their bodies over the lamps so they wouldn’t blow away, and the green screen blew away, and the horses reared up.
You can read more about that in the fullarticle. The Limehouse Golem premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10. The story has been described as a Victorian thriller that incorporates fictionalized versions of historical figures while “an essence of Jack the Ripper looms.” Watch the first clip of the film now!
But The Limehouse Golem wasn’t the only Bill Nighy film to premiere at TIFF this year. Their Last is another period film starring Bill Nighy, alongside Sam Claflin and Gemma Arterton. Set during the Second World War, the film is a drama with a dash of comedy. Nighy talks to Deadline about his role in the film, saying,
They were looking for someone to play a chronically self-absorbed, pompous actor in his declining years, and they thought of me. Which is tricky to process on occasion, but I suppose I should be just grateful for the work.
The actor will also star in an upcoming supernatural comedy-drama called Triple Word Score, in which he plays a grieving father trying to reconnect with his dead son through the game of Scrabble, and another wartime film called Dad’s Army, based on the British sitcom of the same name.
In other news, Stephen Fry, who narrated the UK editions of the Harry Potter audiobooks, will be joining the cast of British sitcom Yonderland for their third series run. In typical Stephen Fry fashion, the actor will play the role of an eccentric character called Cuddly Dick. Yonderland is a comedy following the adventures of Debbie Maddox as she encounters elves and other magical creatures.
Exciting news for UK fans! Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) will be one of the honored guests at the Purbeck Film Festival in Dorset. The festival, which is celebrating its 20th year, will begin on October 13 and go on till October 29. The festival has scheduled two Q&A sessions with the actress on October 15 and 16 and will be screening several of her films throughout, such as Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Gosford Park.
But that’s not all for Dame Maggie Smith fans! To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, a new National Theatre app has been launched, featuring Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, and Derek Jacobi. The iPhone and iPad app gives fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the venue’s numerous Shakespeare productions and features interviews by Dame Maggie Smith and the other aforementioned actors about Shakespeare.
That wraps up this week’s Role Call! Tell us what you think about the many upcoming movies starring Bill Nighy. Are you looking forward to seeing Stephen Fry on Yonderland? Comment below!
