Biographie

He has Dupuytren's Contracture, a hereditary condition which causes the ring and little fingers of each hand to be permanently bent inwards towards the palm.

He played the part of "Sam Gamgee" in the original BBC radio production of The Lord of the Rings alongside Ian Holm as "Frodo". Peter Jackson (director of the Le seigneur des anneaux: La communauté de l'anneau (2001)) gave this version to those members of his cast who hadn't read the book.

He turned down the chance to play the Doctor in Doctor Who (2005).

He has a daughter, Mary Nighy (born July 17, 1984) with Diana Quick, who was his long-time partner.

He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 (2000 season) for Best Actor in his performance of Blue/Orange at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe Stage.

I got briefly mistaken for someone who might be good in bed, which was very, very good.

I wanted to be a journalist, I thought it was glamorous and that I'd meet beautiful women in the rain.

I've always slightly worried about the kids who play football around my house. They know I'm an actor, but felt sorry for me because they'd never seen anything I've done.

"The British consul shipped me home for 25 quid and I had to pay my father back, he was a wee bit cross." (about being in Paris)

You come to realise there is this huge disparity between what you think about yourself and your work and what other people think about you and your work, at first you either think they're insane or that it's a conspiracy to make you look stupid. Or maybe, just maybe, they're right, and you're sometimes quite good at what you do.