Bill Nighy says he is tired of ‘dying in movies’ and wants to start his action career

Bill Nighy has announced that he’s ready for his action career to begin after decades of success in several stage, film and TV productions.

The Love Actually actor complained he’s often recruited for “dying” roles but says he would now prefer to die more dramatically than “on a drip in my pyjamas”.

The 74-year-old came to the realisation while scrolling through Netflix and Amazon Prime.

“I want my action career to begin. I’m not kidding,” he told The Guardian. “I looked at a film of mine on Netflix or Prime the other day. They give you ‘five other films you might like if you like this one’ and they were all about people dying. I thought: ‘I think I’ve done as much dying as I really want to do.’”

Nighy began his early career in theatre, before gaining greater international recognition after starring in the blockbuster vampire franchise, Underworld, and as ageing rock star Billy Mack in Richard Curtis’s hit 2003 rom-com Love Actually, for which he earned a Bafta award for Best Supporting Actor.

Since then, he has starred in a number of British dramas and comedies, as well as major franchises including Pirates of the Caribbean and the Harry Potter films.

But the star says he is now ready for a change, after being cast in more sombre roles as time has gone on.

“I’m grateful to be the guy they come to for dying, but from now on, if I’m going to die, I don’t want to die on a drip in my pyjamas – I want to die in a hail of machine gunfire or jumping out of an aeroplane at 30,000ft,” Nighy said.

“When there’s a scene where you are required to wear pyjamas, I always try to get some funky alternative, because I always feel too exposed. It’s a terrible thing for an actor to say, but there we go.”

Nighy stars oppositeTop Boy actor Michael Ward in his new movie, The Beautiful Game, which is out now on Netflix. The story is based on a real international tournament called the Homeless World Cup.

In the past two decades, nearly 70 countries and 1.2 million people have participated in the tournament which seeks to raise money for homelessness while giving players a sense of community.

Nighy plays the role of England manager, Mal, as his team tries to climb its way through the championship in Italy.