The 'Love Actually' actor admits death has always been on his mind although he insists he's 'not running from it' and has no plan to retire despite his advancing age.
- Feb 21, 2023
AceShowbiz - Bill Nighy claims he thinks about death at least a dozen times a day. The 73-year-old actor confessed he has always been obsessed with the idea of morbidity and thoughts his time on earth may soon be up come to him on a regular basis.
"This might be my last pair...," he said as he's discussing how he thinks about death even when buying shoes. "I don't think I could think about death any more than I already do. But I'm not running from it," he added to Sunday Times Culture magazine.
The "Living" star - who was raised Catholic but lost his faith as a teenager - may think about death a lot but he has no idea what will happen after he's taken his final breath. He said, "I worked very hard to not be a Catholic. Still, I'm perfectly cheerful about the prospect of there being something [after life], but I have no information in that area. I've never had contact with the supernatural."
Despite his advancing years, Bill has no plans to retire. He said, "A young waitress asked, 'Why don't you retire? I would!' I spent the warmer part of [the COVID-19 lockdown] under a tree reading books, and it occurred to me that, at my age, if I did any other job, that's what I would do. Sit and read 'Middlemarch' before I die. But I can't see why I would stop acting."
The "Love Actually" actor used to have a "terrible habit" of never being able to see he positives in himself but "doesn't think" he ever suffered from depression. He said, "My first thought about myself is not always a positive one."
"But I'm a world away from where I was. I had a terrible habit of thinking I couldn't do anything good. Even if something went well, I would dismantle it by the time it was over. But I hear it as mild chatter now, as opposed to a headline. Maybe that's everyone's experience, from being younger to not [young]."
Asked if he was depressed, he replied, "No! I don't know. I've never been depressed. I don't think? I haven't spent my whole life like this. I don't live in an atmosphere of negativity now, and even when I did undermine myself there were times I was... Ebullient."
