4. Bill Nighy Joined The Harry Potter Franchise Because He Felt Left Out
Jealousy is a powerful force. It can make us do great things, terrible things, or things we werent expecting to do a couple of years ago. Case in point, Bill Nighy. One of Britains finest actors working today, Nighy witnesses the Harry Potter juggernaut seemingly come and go, scooping up swathes of RADA-educated acting royalty to stuff into adult parts. Alan Rickman got to steal the show as Severus Snape, Maggie Smith had a whale of a time as Minerva McGonagall and Jason Isaacs got to pimp himself out in the wizard regalia he always wanted for Lucius Malfoy. Yet nobody had come for Nighy yet, and he felt he had to do something about that. This, in a nutshell, is the only reason Nighy took the role as Rufus Scrimgeour he just didnt want the Potter train to pass him by, instead choosing to jump aboard because in his own words, he didnt want to be the only actor in Britain who wasnt in the Harry Potter films. He got barely a quarter-of-an-hour screentime, but dammit, it was worth it. Personally, I take my hat off to him. Ive done strange things because of peer pressure, things I wont go into here (hello mum). Yet Ive never felt compelled to jump aboard a juggernaut franchise out of fear of being left out. But still, to each their (very profitable) own.