It’s being reported all over the place that Billy Nighy will be playing Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. Nighy himself has confirmed he’ll be in the movie, saying, “I don’t think I’m allowed to say it but I’m going to be in the next Harry Potter film,” Nighy says. “I won’t say which character, but he’s a goodie. I just got the gig.”
However, the rumour that he’s playing Scrimgeour seems to have come from TheLeakyCauldron fan website, and as yet there’s been no official confirmation. (Slight Spoiler Alert) However we’re slightly uncovinced that it’s Scrimgeour, who replaces the Cornelius Fudge as Minister For Magic, that Nighy will be playing, because in the book of Deathly Hallows, we never actually see the character, only hear about what’s happened to him. While this doesn’t mean he won’t appear, as indeed it might make sense to flesh out the taking over of the Ministry, it seems odd to have Scrimgeour in the seventh and eighth films if he doesn’t appear in the sixth, where he has a larger role role in the book.
However if he is playing a good guy, it would seem that Scrimgeour is the only person left who hasn’t been cast that Nighy could play. The only other part that would make sense would be Bill playing the landlord that the kids meet when they return to Hogmeade towards the end of the adventure. However, it would appear that this role has already gone to Ciaran Hinds. Either way, we’re sure we’ll get official confirmation of Nighy’s role soon.