An actor who says he was offered the role of Doctor Who has revealed why he turned down the offer. The U.K.’s Express reports that British actor Bill Nighy told the publication that he was offered the role and turned it down because the character carries too much "baggage."

Nighy, 63, who was featured as an art historian in a 2010 episode of "Doctor Who," doesn’t elaborate on the "baggage" in the report. He says he kept mum about the offer when it was made, although he doesn’t disclose when he received the offer. The BBC show recently tapped actor Peter Capaldi as the 12th incarnation of the doctor.

"I will say that I was approached. But I didn’t want to be the Doctor. No disrespect to Doctor Who or anything, I just think that it comes with too much baggage," he said. He added, Capaldi is "a marvelous actor. He’ll be very good as the Doctor. He’ll bring a lot of wit and dry humor. He’s elegant and he looks great."

Nighy has a wide range of film, TV and theater credits, including appearing in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1" and many other feature films. He won a Golden Globe for the BBC TV movie "Gideon’s Daughter" in 2007.

Bill Nighy