BIll Nighy Joins Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

Every other major British actor seems to have a part in the Harry Potter series, so why not Bill Nighy? The actor tells The Independent that he's just nabbed a part in the final film(s) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Who's he going to play? Speculation and possible spoilers run rampant after the jump.

Assuming the quote is correct, Nighy didn't tell the paper exactly what role he's got.

I don't think I'm allowed to say it but I'm going to be in the next Harry Potter film. I won't say which character, but he's a goodie. I just got the gig.

But the speculation (in outlets like Empire) is currently that he'll be playing new Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour, who succeeds previous Minister Cornelius Fudge in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (That event evidently doesn't happen in the film version of Half-Blood Prince, or not explicitly.)

Before his appointment as Minister, Scrimgeour headed the Auror Office in the ministry, and his scarred, tough appearance is described as being like "an old lion with tawny hair and bushy eyebrows, with yellow eyes and wire-rimmed spectacles," according to Wikipedia. The role wouldn't give Nighy a lot of screen time, but he'd have a few scenes where he tries to build some public support for the ministry by convincing Harry to take action that implies he supports the office's fight against Voldemort, and has some conflict with Dumbledore, who opposes the idea. Scrimgeour's final scenes in the story should be fairly dramatic, as the character is tortured in an attempt to gain information about Harry.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is filming now, so we could concievably see shots of Nighy in action very soon.