Age: 76
male
William Francis Nighy (born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received numerous awards, including two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a Tony Award. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with The Illuminatus! in 1977. There he gained acclaim for his roles in David Hare's Pravda in 1985, Harold Pinter's Betrayal in 1991, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and Anton Chekov's The Seagull in 1994. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance in Blue/Orange in 2001. He made his Broadway debut in Hare's The Vertical Hour in 2006, and returned in the 2015 revival of Hare's Skylight earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. Early film roles include in the comedies Still Crazy (1998), and Blow Dry (1999) before his breakout role in Love Actually (2003) which earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He soon gained recognition portraying Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2006-2007), and Viktor in the Underworld film series (2003-2009). Other films include Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Hot Fuzz (2007), Valkyrie (2008), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), About Time (2013), Emma (2020), and Living (2022), the last of these earning him his first career Academy Award nomination. Nighy has gained acclaim for his roles in television earning a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance in BBC One series State of Play (2003), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the BBC film Gideon's Daughter (2007). He's also known for his roles in HBO's The Girl in the Café (2006) and PBS's Page Eight (2012).
The film begins in 1881 after the sudden death of John Carter, a former American Civil War Confederate Army captain. His nephew, Edgar Rice Burroughs, attends the funeral. As per Carter's instructions, the body is put in a tomb that can be unlocked only from the inside. His attorney hands over Carter's personal journal for Burroughs to read, in the hope of finding clues explaining Carter's cause of death. The anecdote moves back to 1868 in the Arizona Territory, where Union Colonel Powell arrests Carter. Powell, knowing about Carter's military background, seeks his help in fighting the Apache. Carter escapes his holding cell, but fails to get far with U.S. cavalry soldiers in close pursuit. After a run-in with a band of Apaches, Carter and a wounded Powell are chased until they take to hiding in a cave that turns out to be the object of Carter's earlier searching, the 'Spider Cave of Gold'. A Thern appears in the cave at that moment and, surprised by the two men, attacks them with a knife; Carter kills him but accidentally activates the Thern's powerful medallion, and is unwittingly transported to a ruined and dying planet, Barsoom. Because of his different bone density and the planet's low gravity, Carter is able to jump high and perform feats of incredible strength. He is captured by the Green Martian Tharks and their Jeddak Tars Tarkas. Elsewhere on Barsoom, the Red Martian cities of Helium and Zodanga have been at war for a thousand years. Sab Than, Jeddak of Zodanga, armed with a special weapon obtained from the Thern leader Matai Shang, proposes a cease-fire and an end to the war by marrying the Princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris. The Princess escapes and is rescued by Carter. Carter, Dejah, and Tarkas' daughter Sola, embark on a quest to get to the end of a sacred river to find a way for Carter to get back home. They obtain information about the "ninth ray", a means of using infinite energy and also the key to understanding how the medallion works. But they are later attacked by Shang's minions, the Green Martians of Warhoon. After the attack, Carter is captured and taken back with Dejah while Sola is able to escape. The demoralized Dejah grudgingly agrees to marry Sab Than, then gives Carter his medallion and tells him to go back to Earth. Carter decides to stay and is captured by Shang, who explains to him the purpose of Therns and how they manipulate the civilizations of different planets. Carter is able to make an escape as he and Sola go back to the Tharks requesting their help. There they discover Tarkas has been overthrown by a ruthless brute, Tal Hajus. Tarkas, Carter, and Sola are put on trial in a colosseum battle with two enormous vicious creatures, the four-armed Great White-Apes. After defeating them and killing Hajus, Carter becomes the leader of the Tharks. The Thark army charges on Helium and defeats the Zodangan army by killing Sab Than, while Shang escapes. Carter becomes prince of Helium by marrying Dejah. On their first night, Carter decides to stay forever on Mars and throws away his medallion. Seizing this opportunity, Shang banishes him back to Earth. Carter then embarks in a long quest, looking for clues of the Therns' presence on Earth and hoping to find one of their medallions; after several years he appears to die suddenly and asks for unusual funeral arrangements—consistent with his having found a medallion, since his return to Mars would leave his Earth body in a coma-like state. He makes Burroughs his protector, giving him clues about how to open the tomb. The story reverts to the present, where Burroughs runs back to Carter's tomb and opens it, only to find it empty. A Thern, disguised as man with a bowler hat who has been observing Carter, suddenly appears, having followed Burroughs. But as the Thern prepares to kill Burroughs, Carter appears and kills the Thern. Carter then tells Burroughs that he never found a medallion. Instead, he devised a scheme to lure one of the Therns into revealing himself. Carter takes his medallion, whispers the code, and is then transported back to Barsoom.
