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Everyone’s pitting young bucks against each other to be the next James Bond. But what about a silver-haired veteran spy… say, Bill Nighy?
A couple of years ago, Bill quipped that he could ‘play James Bond’s grandfather’. When we meet to discuss his new action-packed Amazon Prime series, I suggest that he could play 007 himself. He smiles roguishly in response, readjusting his thick-rimmed glasses.
16 years after playing a hitman in Wild Target, Bill has now returned to the world of contracted killers, starring as The Director, the head of a mysterious assassination agency, opposite Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer in Ride or Die.
‘I’m so pleased when anybody talks about Wild Target, because nobody talked about Wild Target when Wild Target was Wild Target,’ he tells Metro after I bring up the 2010 film.
‘I played a hitman. It was the only other time I’ve ever used a gun, I think, until I got to this one, where I do actually shoot a pistol at one point. I’m always pleased for that, and I’m looking to do more of that. I want a very belated action career.’
Ride or Die is a rip-roaring rollercoaster, following Hannah and Octavia as best friends Judith and Debbie, a dream duo who’ll make you laugh one second and have you sitting on the edge of your seat the next.
Judith is a dangerous assassin who’s kept her profession a secret from her pal for 20 years. Debbie is the wife of an MP with incredible smarts who’s put her own aspirations aside to support his political career.
Together, they’re forced to go on the run when Judith fails to carry out a mission to assassinate criminal Billy Donovan (Ed Skrein). All the while, her boss, The Director (Bill), is tracking her every move with lethal precision.
He’s softly spoken, yet you know he’s the most dangerous person in any room.
You get to my age, and you don’t have to bulls**t
‘The directions within the script were quite specific about how he should be: quiet, collected, steely, merciless,’ Bill outlines when explaining how he pieced together his character.
‘Then when you see the office, which is the size of the average cathedral, and you see my desk is the size of Devon, you think, “Well, I think I know how to do this.” They put you in the right suit, and it’s just a case of keeping a straight face.’
Bill’s transformed into all sorts of eccentric characters, from a pirate to a rockstar, a vampire to a politician – but action is a genre he’d like to tap into more.
Having previously told The Guardian about how he could play James Bond’s grandfather, does he feel as though he’s fulfilled that aspiration now, given The Director is almost like a warped paternal figure for Judith in Ride or Die?
‘It is a kind of introduction to that world, to the world of romantic action comedy, you might say. So, I’m in the right world. I’m in the genre world. I like being in the genre world,’ he says.
‘I like it as a thing; I just find it kind of benign. Those kind of films are beloved, and I like to be a part of it.’
People often say, “I don’t want to get typecast.” I’d love to be typecast
Delving into the mind of an assassination agency boss must take some imagination. It’s not like there are organisations of the sort readily available to contact so that he could speak to someone with experience. But I wonder if there was any research Bill could do when he took on the role.
His response to this question is refreshingly honest.
‘I’ve got to this point, you get to my age, you can answer those questions honestly, and you don’t have to bulls**t. When you’re younger, you have to lie, but if you ask me how much research I’ve done, the answer is absolutely none whatsoever,’ he asserts.
‘Any information I require is actually in the script, which it actually was, because the stage direction and the character descriptions within the script were very, very specific.’
Bill continues down this train of thought, explaining that while he’s depicted an assortment of characters in his career, he’s never been able to grasp the concept of being ‘in character’.
‘I have never knowingly been in character in my life,’ he states. ‘I’ve heard great things about it, but it’s outside of my experience. I understand the word ‘character’; it’s the word ‘in’ I don’t grasp.
‘I know what they mean, but I kind of don’t know what they mean, because I think it’s sort of mythical to a large degree in my experience. Not in other people’s experience, other people I know have different experiences.’
Most people probably have a favourite Bill Nighy film that they could name off the top of their heads. For me, Pride and About Time are up there, as well as – of course – Love Actually.
I have never knowingly been in character in my life
He’s demonstrated his range for decades, but Bill would very happily be typecast, he reveals.
‘I don’t ever personally lose myself [in my roles], because I’m at work, so I have to stay present. I don’t know any other way to do it. I’ve heard that other people perhaps do, but it’s just not my experience, because I’m not open in that way,’ he shares.
‘You get considered for a kind of line of parts, although I am fortunate to be offered a variety of things, [but] I don’t actively seek out doing eccentric parts. I love genre, so I love being a vampire, I love being a squid man, I love being a werewolf, I love being all those kind of things.
‘People often say, “I don’t want to get typecast.” I’d love to be typecast. It would be so great to go to work and just walk and talk and not have to put on a battle skirt or put on 250 dots on your face and wear cosmic pyjamas.’
He laughs as I assure him that the dots looked great in the final edit when he played Davy Jones. But it seems he’d rather swap pirates for assassins from now on.
Ride or Die is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
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