It was a moment that Bill Nighy will never forget. Just as Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski predicted, the very first time that Bill stepped on board his `own' galleon, The Flying Dutchman, it quite literally left him speechless.
“When Gore said to me `have you seen your ship yet?' I said `no I haven't..'” says Bill. “And he said `you wait until you see it.' I just stood on board the first time and at first I was speechless and then I said “how the hell did they let me get away with this?” It is an incredible ship.”
It was, perhaps, the moment that Bill had a genuine sense of the scale of the films he was about to appear in. Verbinski, his crew and cast were not only filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest but also part of Pirates Three, back to back.
“It was an incredible undertaking,” says Bill. “And Gore handled it so well. , his attention to detail is remarkable from the rings on your fingers to the design on the curtains, nothing escapes him.”
The films re-unite the stars of the hugely successful, critically acclaimed first film, The Black Pearl - including Johnny Depp as the lovable rogue Captain Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann - and introduces some `new boys' including Nighy as the mythical Davy Jones, the underworld captor of sea faring souls.
“His job in the movie is largely to put the fear of death into people and the only time you will ever Davy Jones, or indeed his terrible crew on their horror ship, in your life is at the point of death,” explains Bill.
“Davy Jones will turn up at the point of death and he will offer you a deal and it's not much of a deal but it's the only one in town and it's a terrible deal. And then you will belong to him in a way that you can't even imagine.
“Along with his crew and his ship they constitute the most powerful force on the ocean, so if they are on your side you are in brilliant shape, if they are on the other side - forget about it.”
Fans of this urbane, charming London born actor are in for a real surprise when they see him on screen - his face is unrecognisable under a writhing mass of sea creatures (thanks to some computer wizardry, of course.) Indeed, Bill himself was astounded the first time he saw the computer-enhanced images of himself. On set, he would wear “grey pyjamas” - a bland outfit on which the CGI can be layered on to. On his face were a series of dots which the technicians use to pinpoint the tentacles.
“As people will see from the pictures he is half squid and half crab but there is a man in there somewhere,” says Bill. “: It's extraordinary when you see yourself like that. It's mad really. My face moves all the time with these tentacles because they are alive. Amazing.”
Bill is a huge fan of the first Pirates film and when he was offered the role of Davy Jones he was delighted to accept. “The first film is more than just a fond memory for people, it's kind of beloved.,” he says. “And it is largely to do with Johnny's performance. And it occurs me that it is a performance that has entered the language in a way that very few performances do.”
Joining a cast dominated by British actors like Jack Davenport who returns as the stuffy James Norrington, McKenzie Crook as the pirate Ragetti, Jonathan Pryce as Governor Weatherby Swann and fellow newcomer Tom Hollander as Lord Cutler Beckett, Nighy felt right at home - even though they were based thousands of miles away in the Caribbean, using The Bahamas as a base.
“I know all of these guys,” he says. “I've worked with Tom on probably three other films, he is terribly good company and we got on very well. He is a brilliant actor. It was very funny when Jonathan Pryce turned up because Jonathan employed me as an actor years ago.
“I don't even like to think about it but it must have been 25 years ago when he was the director of the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool but I had never actually acted with him, he had always directed me.”
Nighy, and the rest of the cast, will be returning to work on finishing Pirates Three later in the summer and he's delighted to do so. To sum up, he found the experience uniquely enjoyable, he says.
“This is in a class of its own, a category of one,” says Nighy. “And you know, hard to resist.”
Nighy, 56, left school in Surrey, England and dallied with the idea of journalism. He worked as a messenger boy in the London offices of Field Magazine but then decided to try his luck in Paris, where he planned to write a novel. “I never really got past the title,” he jokes.
After running out of money, he was shipped home to England by the British consulate and, at a friend's suggestion, decided to try acting and won a place at the Guildford School of Dance and Drama. He never looked back.
He is one of Britain's most popular actors and boasts a CV which includes acclaimed work on stage, TV screen and in film. In recent years, he played newspaper editor Cameron Foster in the excellent BBC mini series State of Play, a fading rock star in Richard Curtis's Love Actually, a vampire in Underworld, an alien in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a diplomat in The Constant Gardener.
He recently starred in the British spy thriller Stormbreaker and the drama Notes on A Scandal, with Judi Dench and Cate Blancett, both of which will be released later this year.
Nighy lives in London with his wife, the actress Diana Quick.
Q: What can you tell us about Davy Jones?
A: Davy Jones is a man transformed by love and luck. As people will see from the pictures he is half squid and half crab but there is a man in there somewhere and weirdly he's Scottish, for reasons which we will perhaps go into later. His job in the movie is largely to put the fear of death into people and the only time you will ever Davy Jones, or indeed his terrible crew on their horror ship, in your life is at the point of death. Davy Jones will turn up at the point of death and he will offer you a deal and it's not much of a deal but it's the only one in town and it's a terrible deal. And then you will belong to him in a way that you can't even imagine. Along with his crew and his ship they constitute the most powerful force on the ocean, so if they are on your side you are in brilliant shape, if they are on the other side - forget about it. And he doesn't have a beard, he has what appears to be a squid growing out of his chin with tentacles which move all the time. And you may have seen from the trailer, but his beard plays the organ. He also smokes a pipe and he actually smokes through his neck (laughs).
Q: So he has his own ship?
A: Yes, it's called The Flying Dutchman and it's an incredible ship. When the director, Gore Verbinski, said to me `have you seen your ship yet?' I said `no I haven't..' and he said `wait until you see it. I just stood on board the first time and at first I was speechless and then I said “how the hell did they let me get away with this?” In the Caribbean we had three incredible ships. Johnny's ship, The Black Pearl, is, I believe, a replica of an actual craft from that period but being the movies, it also has engines below deck - so you can also buzz other galleons if you want and it really shifts at the most enormous speeds. It's a unique craft in that it looks the way it does but it moves so quickly, it's very cool.
Q: So what was it like the first time you stood on board The Flying Dutchman?
A: It was incredible and it was daunting. Because you just think `well, I'd better be bloody good because these people are bloody serious.' It's often like that, when someone hands you a prop on a movie and it's been made with such precision and such care and such wit, you do feel out classed. I remember once I was in a prison movie and I was supposed to be an artist, a man who sketched a lot. And one of the props guys not only gave me a diary, which the chances of anyone seeing inside were slim in itself, this was way beyond the call, but not only had he put sketches in it, he'd sketched other members of the cast that I might have come across in the story and he'd also written poems and things, little bits of writing and letters home, and it's all beautifully done and it's been weathered and it has been aged..
Q: Does that sort of detail and props help with your job?
A: Yes, it absolutely does. If it were only that it's a vote of confidence, a sort of `this whole thing might just work..' And this is how serious and how committed and enthusiastic and this is how hard this department is prepared to work, where do you stand? It gives you an enormous boost. And when you walk on a ship like this, it's incredible. It's thrilling. We did quite a lot of nights and those warm, clear Caribbean nights have a beautiful quality and on the water were three galleons, my ship, Johnny's ship and Tom Hollander's ship - Tom is one of the other new boys, along with Stellan Skarsgaard. And Tom plays another nasty piece of work, he is the unacceptable though charming face of the East India Company and his ship is The Endeavour. At one period the three ships were all together and at night they hang over from this floating crane these huge Chinese lanterns. They usually have one on a movie and they had about six. They are as big as this room and they cast a very soft, dramatic light over everything.
Q: That's quite a scene…
A: Amazing. You are quite close to the dock but it's on the water. And then you have rain barges around the ships and they pump down movie rain to you and the movie rain is big fat rain, it's not like other rain, this is serious rain, and when you see the soft, massive light coming through the movie rain on to these ships in the Caribbean night you think `well, you'd better act up, son, this is the movies…' It's like `My God..' It is tremendous fun though.
Q: Had you seen the first film when the call came to meet Gore?
A: Yes, I had. And the first film is more than just a fond memory for people, it's kind of beloved. And it is largely to do with Johnny's performance. And it occurs me that it is a performance that has entered the language in a way that very few performances do. And it is a performance that will survive down the years - we will show our grandchildren this performance. We will show these movies and we will claim the performance as our own in some ways, you know when your parents like to sit you down and watch whoever. It's a huge contribution Johnny has made and it has everything - it's profoundly funny and witty, it's daring and bold, it's affectionate and fond and it's iconic. And you can't say that very often but he really has pulled it off and it will survive.
Q: Tell me the essence of the story…
A: Jack Sparrow made a deal with Davy Jones, which is like deal with the devil, it's a Faustian pact. And his time is up. He got The Black Pearl and the right to live but now it's time to pay up and he tries to think throughout the film of every way not to pay up. And then you have Keira and Orlando's story which continues and Jack Davenport has a major part to play. It's great, a really great script.
Q: There are a lot of Brits in the cast. Did you know any of them?
A: I know all of these guys.
Q: So what was that like?
A: It was good fun. Tom Hollander who plays the other villain, I've worked with Tom on probably three other films, he is terribly good company and we got on very well. He is a brilliant actor. It was very funny when Jonathan Pryce turned up because Jonathan employed me as an actor. `I don't even like to think about it but it must have been 25 years ago when he was the director of the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool but I had never actually acted with he, he had always directed me.
Q: You're essentially filming two films back to back. How long were you away?
A: It has been a long engagement, much longer than normal, because there are two movies but I was able to do other movies in between. The longest commitment was over last autumn, we did maybe two months before Christmas and a month afterwards, that was all on Grand Bahamas with a bit in Exhuma.
Q: What was it like being in the Caribbean for such a long stint?
A: Well, I think my luggage was books, I didn't take anything else apart from my i-pod and I'd put the i-pod on Dylan shuffle or Stones shuffle and get the book out; I mean, for me that's a bit of a result, I'm happy. I don't do anything else anyway - that's what I do. If I'm not working, that's it really so I'm very happy.
Q: So it was good..
A: Oh god help us, I've had worse days than that. I mean, the people were absolutely charming. I respond very well to the hotel experience. You know, I'm very happy there. You know, which part of that is a problem. Apart from a lack of English football, and even then I got Real Madrid and Barcelona every week, so I was able to watch those two great teams. You would get Champions League which is the major tournament in the world, and you know, fresh fish. Heaven.
Q: What's Johnny Depp like to work with?
A: He's an exemplary man, both as a colleage and as company. He is terrific company, he is a gentleman, a democrat - I don't mean in the political sense, I mean in terms of his general sensibility - he's funny, decent, conscientious, a lovely guy and an assassin in terms of comedy. He's just entirely wonderful.
Q: How did Gore cope with such an enormous project?
A: Gore Verbinski is a wonderful man. He was absolutely terrific with me, he is much, much cleverer than I am, which is what you require in a director, he's also has the talent that directors are supposed to have which is that he can hold everything in his head. One film is bad enough but imagine two. And I mean everything, his attention to detail is remarkable from the rings on your fingers to the design on the curtains, nothing escapes him. He is brilliant on the tonal variations; he can tune you in and tune you out. And I mean, you look at the unit you have out there in the Caribbean and you could invade a country, just the number of vehicles, it's like an invading army, it's a huge thing. And he wears it very, very lightly. If there is any pressure, you won't hear about it from Gore - he's very classy and always working and always honouring the story.
Q:: How did it work with filming the two movies together? Would the schedule for three be dictated by the locations you were filming at?
A: Yeah, there would be a few occasions when you would spend the morning on two and the afternoon on three.
Q: What was that like?
A: It's alright really, because actors are quite accustomed to working without any chronological help. You are not un-used to going in on the first day on a film and shooting the end, everybody has done it. So it wasn't too bad. I think some of it was governed by certain artists availability, you have them for a certain period and then they have to go elsewhere. And there are some very big stars in it and you have to catch them when you can.
Q: There's been lots of speculation about Keith Richards playing Johnny's father. Has that happened yet?
A: Well, no it hasn't happened yet because we haven't shot that sequence yet.
Q: I know you are a huge Stones fan. Are you involved in that sequence?
A: I'm not, sadly. But I'm hoping to hang around his trailer. I don't even know if I want to. I mean, I would love to pay my respects to Mr Keith Richards and I would be very proud to be in the same film as him. And I hope that his current injury doesn't prevent him from being in it. And I know that Johnny is a great admirer of the Stones and I have loved the Stones all my life. And he is my favourite guitar player and he has written some of the great songs, so let's hope that he can do it. It would be great.
Q: Do you have film more of Pirates 3?
A: Yes, everyone has to go back. There's quite a lot to do. Well, most people have to go back. There's nothing now that would be in the Caribbean I would think, it's more interiors.
Q: Does your character get involved in the action sequences?
A: Oh yeah, I have quite a lot of that. Swords and everything. I've done a bit of all that before, great fun.
Q: What's it like seeing that incredible image of yourself as Davy Jones?
A: It's extraordinary when you see yourself like that. It's mad really. My face moves all the time with these tentacles because they are alive. Amazing. It's extraordinary because it's not like any other gig and when you start you sort of try and tune your head to you know, something where you are operating with a degree of taste and you try and keep the level and authentic and in human terms. And then you remember what you look like and all that goes out of the window really.
Q: Have you seen much of the footage yet?
A: I've seen glimpses, tiny little bits. I've seen me in my silly grey pyjamas doing it and you just look very daft - but I look forward to seeing how it works. But at the moment they all seem very cheerful about it.
Q: You're away in the Caribbean for a long stretch, you're working with people that you like, is there a social element to a film like this?
A: Oh yes. I mean actors away generally are. People learn how to rub along pretty well and they are decent people, they are nice people. You know Tom Hollander is extremely good company and McKenzie Crook is a charming man. We would have the odd dinner together and you know, it was very nice. All that lot, Jack Davenport and Jonathan was there.
Q: And Johnny, would he go out too?
A: Yes, Johnny was very good company and very friendly and approachable but it's a little more difficult for Johnny because he is so famous, it's beyond a certain degree of fame - he is beloved so I think he had to take that into consideration.
Q: Did your wife go out to visit you?
A: No, because she was on tour with a show the whole time and then in the West End, she had a show that was s a bit of a hit. So that wasn't possible, but that's alright, we're used to that. It's not a problem.
Q: What was Jerry Bruckheimer like?
A: He was absolutely charming and encouraging and deeply committed to the whole thing, he has put together a world-class team. And quite rightly because the first movie was such a huge success. He was friendly and approachable and he was very good at throwing parties for us, he's a real enthusiast. It was great and I think it's a great credit to him that the first one was so successful because he stuck his neck out and so did Johnny. They stuck to their guns and they quite rightly enjoyed one of the great successes of modern times. Jerry was very encouraging.
Q: How does this one compare with your other work?
A: This is in a class of its own. A category of one. And you know, hard to resist.
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