‘I ran away to Paris to be a writer and ended up begging’: Bill Nighy on dashed dreams, golf emojis and playing a cranky novelist

A dying patriarch summons his brood for a dramatic announcement. It may not be the most original starting point for a movie, but & Sons adds an eccentric twist – one that it would be unfair to reveal here but which nudges the material into the realm of science fiction. The father in question is a revered novelist who is as reclusive as JD Salinger and as whiskery and dishevelled as Catweazle.

Dormant for decades, the fictional AN Dyer is first glimpsed in a horizontal position on the sofa, refusing to come to the telephone: “I don’t do phonecalls,” he grumbles. That is patently not true of the actor who plays him. He is speaking to me from north-west London, where he has been nosing around bookshops.

I was always very quick on the old Nokia. Quite proud of myself, I was.” Where does he stand on emojis? Most of them are a bit naff.” He then proceeds to list the exceptions.

I like the leaping shark. Sometimes I combine it with the leaping dolphin. Very occasionally, I like the golfer in mid-swing if I’m congratulating someone.

I don’t do smiley faces.” Communicating over Zoom is a no-go, hence our phone conversation today. I’m old enough to be able to say, ‘Can I retire from Zoom?’” At 76, he has ruled out other undesirable experiences. You have to sit there for so long and it just confuses the issue.

Working lunches are absolutely out of the question now.” He has never been much of a partygoer either, and used to get what he calls “a thrill, or a kind of anti-thrill” from putting invitations, especially highly prized ones, straight in the bin. When I ask if there is any one thing that is likely to make him turn down an acting job, his answer is instant and unequivocal: “Togas.” No such garments in & Sons, which pits Nighy as Dyer against his vexed older offspring (played by Johnny Flynn and George MacKay) and the ex-wife (Imelda Staunton) who has never forgiven him for siring a son (Hamnet’s Noah Jupe) by another woman. The old man has been an abrasive and emotionally absent parent, but appears to believe his literary talent excuses that.