Pika

Tomorrow finally sees the launch of the Pokémon Detective Pikachu movie, one of several relatively recent endeavours for the franchise which has thrust the popular pocket monsters back into the starlight. Actor Bill Nighy, who stars as Howard Clifford in the film, has recently been won over by Pikachu and co., seemingly stricken with the same Poké-loving disease experienced by the best of us.

Speaking to The Guardian, the Harry Potter, Pirates of the Carribean and Shaun of the Dead star said that “you could have written what I knew about Pokémon on the head of a pin” before his new role on the Detective Pikachu film. Being caught up in the role and the Pokémon world seems to have changed all of that, though, and now he's as invested as the next person.

“I did a crash course in Pokémon lore and bought every book available, including the deeply impressive Pokédex,” says Nighy, referring to the Pokémon encyclopaedia. “I love the collecting. When I get around to it, I’m going to download the [Pokémon Go] app and go to Strasbourg. Someone told me they went Pokémon hunting in Strasbourg, which made an impression on me.”

He goes on to talk about owning a number of extremely rare items, including a limited edition Pikachu presented to him by The Pokémon Company's CEO, and that his favourite Pokémon is Mew (a solid choice in our eyes). He even took pieces of the movie set home with him to decorate his house. The pieces come from his character's office in the film and are "absolutely enormous", currently sitting in his cellar before he can find a proper home for them.

Once Pokémon wraps its mighty claws around you, there's no going back it seems.

If you want to learn more about Detective Pikachu before seeing it in cinemas this weekend, make sure to catch our full review.

[source theguardian.com]