Actor Bill Nighy on his long relationship with the play Skylight

Most people these days binge on The Walking Dead or House of Cards. Bill Nighy binges on Virginia Woolf.

Skylight is Bill Nighy’s first return to the New York stage since 2006 and he admits to some nerves.- AP

The English actor known for such films as Love Actually and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is currently reading The Voyage Out — his fifth Woolf book in a row.

“It’s taken me all my life to get to Virginia Woolf and I realise, as usual, I’ve been postponing something completely marvelous,” he said. “I just find them completely compelling.”

That Nighy would be gorging on an eminent novelist from the inter-war period seems to speak to both the actor’s intellectual motor and his childlike glee. Actually, he’s in New York for another sort of binge — his 10th project with playwright David Hare.

In the play Skylight, Carey Mulligan plays a woman who works at an inner-city high school and receives an unexpected visit one night from her ex-lover, a recently widowed and wealthy restaurateur played by Nighy.

It’s Nighy’s first return to the New York stage since 2006 and he admits to some nerves. “I just sit here thinking, ‘Why aren’t I on a film set with somebody bringing me a Snickers bar and a triple macchiato?’ I’m like, ‘Why do I put myself through this?’ Truly,” he said. “I’m not even kidding.”

Nighy has arrived at rehearsals at the Golden Theatre in one of his trademark tailored suits and a pair of dark-rimmed glasses. His sweepingly long hair, honest grace and self-depreciating charm have made him a sex symbol in his 60s.

Asking him about it makes him squirm a little. “I wouldn’t even dare to speculate what women think in that area. I just wouldn’t, honestly,” he said. “If you ever find me posing as an expert in that area, call a cab.”

Skylight, which has transferred from a well-received run in the West End last summer, also stars Matthew Beard, who plays Nighy’s son. Beard was terrified when he made his stage debut in London, but, to his delight, his older co-star constantly checked to make sure he was OK and happy.

“You can tell he has a great soul just from watching him. But knowing how far that reaches, how much he truly does care passionately about everyone he’s working with, is incredible,” Beard said.

‘You’ll have a bloody good laugh’

“Yes, I do tend to gorge. I think I’m a completist,” he said. “Often when you get into the company of a writer, you just want to stay. It becomes where you go every day.”