Bill Nighy: ‘Pride is one of the best jobs I ever had’
Bill Nighy has called Pride – a British film about gay activists supporting the miners’ strike – one of the best jobs he has ever had.
‘Pride’ tells the real life inspiring tale of how a group of gay activists in London decided to fundraise for a mining community in South Wales during the miners’ strike of 1984-85.
In a recent interview with Buzzfeed about his work as an actor, Nighy spoke extensively about his role in the film, giving it high praise.
“Pride is one of the best jobs I ever had, and that’s not PR,” he said. “That’s the absolute truth.
“When I read the script, it made me laugh from start to finish, and it’s also about a couple of things which are very close to my heart and probably close to anyone’s heart of my vintage, as they say in magazines.”
He added: “One of them would be the emancipation of gay men and women in my lifetime, and this film portrays a very important part of gay history. And then the miners strike, which was like a huge scandal. It was like a civil war in our country, and it was largely misreported at the time.
“So it’s refreshing to have a little bit of the truth about these decent men and women working in the mining communities who were assaulted by the authorities, and this film treats them with upmost dignity and respect.” [sic]
He also reflected on his own abilities as an actor, saying, “I did think at one point that I’d reached an age where I could only play men from other dimensions.
“But it turns out not to be true. It turns out that I can on occasion play regular human beings, which is very refreshing.”
In May, ‘Pride’ won the ‘Queer Palm’ award at Cannes in May – the first British film ever to do so.
