This Morning: Bill Nighy 'turned down' Dad's Army five times
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During an old interview with This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, acting legend Bill Nighy opened up about turning down the Dad’s Army role five times. He expressed that he had grown up with the series and thought he would be “out of [his] mind” to take the role before appearing in the 2016 movie.
Welcoming Bill to the show, Phil began: “It is lovely to see you and is always a pleasure to have you here. Now, were you a fan of Dad’s Army?”
Bill explained: “Yeah, I was a big fan, like everybody else. I grew up with that show, and I love watching Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier when they were left alone, that was my particular favourite part of the show.”
Moving on to speak about his appearance in the movie, Phil asked: “So, when you get the phone call, there must have been an element of thinking ‘Oh my God, this is such a risk’.”
“Yeah, there was a huge element,” Bill revealed. “I think I turned it down five times because I just thought ‘You have got to be out of your mind.’
“I’m not John Le Mesurier. But they said no one is mimicking the earlier programme, and because it is Dad’s Army, it is so beloved.
“Then Michael Gambon got on board, and I thought, he’ll make me laugh for a few weeks while we’re filming on a beach in Bridlington – and then, of course, Toby Jones got involved.”
Holly asked: “Did Mike Gambon make you laugh on a beach?”
Bill touched on his relationship with Mike and admitted: “Michael Gambon, he makes me laugh until the point you think you might not breathe again.
“You’re literally bent double, and afterwards, if you repeat anything he said to anyone, they would say ‘That’s not funny, and you go ‘Well, you had to be there’.
“He is one of those people who reduces me, I know him quite well, there are some great stories, and it was a treat to see some of the younger members of the cast just sitting as it were at his feet.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones also starred in the film and played the glamorous journalist Rose Winter, with Bill admitting he was a huge fan of hers.
“Everyone was beguiled by her,’ he said. “Wilson and Mannering are deluded enough to think they could be love rivals for her. They get into serious trouble as a result.
“Catherine was just great. She was wonderful – easy and nice and charming and clever – and it was dreamy doing business with her.”
Tonight, BBC Two is set to air the feature-length version of the classic sitcom about the Home Guard unit of a small seaside town.
Bill starred alongside Toby Jones, who played the role of pompous Captain Mainwaring, with original creator Jimmy Perry producing the movie.
He previously told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Up to now, I haven’t taken it too seriously, when I signed the contract to release the film rights, one provision was that I didn’t have to write anything, I didn’t have to do anything. I’m letting them get on with it.”
Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Arnold Ridley and John Laurie were among the cast members and in 2004, Dad’s Army came fourth in a BBC poll asking viewers to choose Britain’s best sitcom.
There has been one other movie adaptation, directed by Norman Cohen and released in 1971 with the same actors.
Last week, Dad’s Army legend Frank Williams, who played Reverend Timothy Farthing, died at the age of 90.
Now, Ian Lavender, 76, who played Private Pike in Dad’s Army, is sadly the only remaining member of the main cast.
Dad’s Army airs tonight at 7pm on BBC Two.
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