Jonny Lee Miller

Jonny Lee Miller
Miller at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con International
Born	Jonathan Lee Miller (1972-11-15) 15 November 1972 Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England
Education	Tiffin School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1983–present
Spouses	Angelina Jolie (1996–1999) Michele Hicks (2008–present)
Children	1
Relatives	Bernard Lee (grandfather)

Jonathan "Jonny" Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is an English film, television and theatre actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon Williamson in the black comedy drama film Trainspotting (1996), before earning further critical recognition for his performances in Afterglow (1997), Mansfield Park (1999), The Flying Scotsman (2006) and Endgame (2009); for The Flying Scotsman he received a London Film Critics' Circle nomination for Actor of the Year. He was also part of the principal cast in the films Melinda and Melinda (2004), Dark Shadows (2012) and Byzantium (2013). He has appeared in several theatrical productions on Broadway, most notably After Miss Julie and Frankenstein, the later of which earned him an Olivier Award for Best Actor.

Miller starred as the titular character in the ABC comedy-drama Eli Stone for which he received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor. This was followed by another starring role in the BBC costume drama Emma and a supporting role as Jordan Chase in the fifth season of the Showtime drama Dexter.

He currently stars as Sherlock Holmes in the CBS crime drama Elementary which earned him his second Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor.

Early life

Miller was born on 15 November 1972 at Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. He was born the son of Anna Lee and Alan Miller and raised in the south west of London. He attended Tiffin School as a child and was influenced by his parents to start acting; they were both theatre actors and were involved in stage productions at the BBC. He appeared in several school plays such as The Ragged Child and performed as part of the Tiffin Swing Band. He then joined the National Youth Music Theatre where he met fellow actor Jude Law. He left school at the age of sixteen after receiving his GCSE to pursue a career in acting. His grandfather was actor Bernard Lee, who played M in the first eleven James Bond films, but Miller has admitted he remembers little of him as he was still young when he died.

Career

Television

Miller made his television debut with an uncredited appearance in the BBC series Doctor Who at the age of eleven in the 1982 episode Kinda. The following year he appeared in Jemima Shore and had a role as Charles Price in the serial drama Mansfield Park. He then appeared in various televisions shows throughout the 1990s. These included two separate guest roles in the ITV procedural The Bill as well as single episode roles in the BBC drama Between the Lines and the medical drama Casualty. He also featured in Keeping Up Appearances, Inspector Morse and Minder. His first notable acting role came in the soap opera EastEnders where he played Jonathan Hewitt. Miller later revealed he had been offered a contract to remain on the show but declined: "It was five week's work and I made more money there than I ever had in my life. Then they offered me a year's contract. I said no, thank God. I thought I should get out of there while I still could."

In 2003, Miller appeared in the BBC modernisation of The Canterbury Tales in the episode The Pardoner's Tale, and had a starring role as Lord Byron in the television film Byron. He then starred alongside Ray Liotta in the CBS drama Smith. However, the show was cancelled after only seven episodes. Miller was then cast as the titular character in the legal comedy-drama Eli Stone. The show ran for two season on ABC and he received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor. He then starred in the BBC costume drama Emma as George Knightley. He then had a guest role as Jordan Chase in the fifth season of the Showtime drama Dexter for which he received a nomination for Screen Actors Guild Award for being part of the main cast in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. In early 2010, it was reported he was set to portray Rick Grimes in the television adaptation of the comic The Walking Dead. It was later revealed Andrew Lincoln had been cast. In 2011, Miller auditioned for the role of Sherlock Holmes for an upcoming CBS adaption based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. He originally turned down the part as he feared it would be too similar to the BBC version Sherlock. However, after receiving the script he accepted the part and it was officially announced he would star in Elementary alongside Lucy Liu. This earned him his second Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor.

Film

He first starred in the film Hackers (1995), with Angelina Jolie, whom he married in 1996. Shortly after Hackers, Miller was cast as Sick Boy in Trainspotting. He was suggested for the role by Ewan McGregor. The accent he used in the film was so convincing that it led many people to incorrectly believe that he was Scottish. Miller has stated: "I had to do a lot of work. I read and re-read the book and I pretended to be Scottish all the time I was in Glasgow, hanging around with Scots, picking up bits and pieces on the street and in bars. Everyone's been very encouraging and Danny thinks that I've got it about right. Of course, the others are from all over Scotland and have different accents themselves, so I've tried to just pick up a general, composite accent."

In 1997, he played Billy Prior in the film adaptation of Pat Barker's World War I novel Regeneration. In 2000, he played the Cameron Colley in Complicity, based on the book by Iain Banks. He costarred in the film Love, Honour and Obey as Johnny, a London street kid getting mixed up with a notorious British gangster. Also in 2000, he appeared as Simon Sheppard in Wes Craven's Dracula 2000. In 2005, he was considered for the role of James Bond, replacing Pierce Brosnan. The role eventually went to Daniel Craig. The following year, Miller portrayed cyclist Graeme Obree in The Flying Scotsman.

He was considered as the third teammate to join Ben Fogle and James Cracknell in Team QinetiQ for the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race in January 2009. He participated in training for the event in Norway, which was televised for a BBC2 documentary series On Thin Ice. He was not able to attend the race due to filming commitments of Eli Stone being extended for a second season. In 1997, he was involved with the creation and operation of Natural Nylon with friends Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Ewan McGregor, and Sean Pertwee. Natural Nylon folded in 2003.

Theatre

In March 2011, at the Royal National Theatre, he played both Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein's Monster on alternate nights, opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, in a stage adaptation of Frankenstein. Directed by Danny Boyle, the play was broadcast to cinemas worldwide as part of National Theatre Live on 17 March 2011 and additional dates throughout March and April. He appeared in Tim Burton's 2012 film Dark Shadows. He also appeared on Broadway in a production of "After Miss Julie", with his performance receiving very positive reviews.

Personal life

Miller married actress Angelina Jolie on 28 March 1996. They separated 18 months later, and were divorced on 9 February 1999. He began dating actress and model Michele Hicks in 2006. They married in July 2008 in Malibu, California. The couple have one son, Buster Timothy Miller, born in December 2008.

Miller is a supporter of Chelsea Football Club. He is a marathon runner, often supporting the charity Mencap. Miller was signed up to run their 2006 Marathon des Sables, but had to drop out due to shooting the film Marathon. He ran the 2008 London Marathon in 3:01:40. He ran the 2010 New York City Marathon with his Dexter co-star Jennifer Carpenter.

In 2014, Miller became an advocate to finding treatment for the disease Sanfilippo syndrome, following a case with five year old Jonah Weishaar. He is set to address the congressional caucus in Washington on behalf of rare disease organizations, in the hopes of securing financing to fund treatment research.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Dead Romantic	Paul
1992	Goodbye Cruel World	Mark	Television movie
1993	Prime Suspect 3	Anthony Field	Television movie
1993	Bad Company	Michael Hickey
1993	Olly's Prison	Smiler
1994	Meat	Charlie Dyce
1995	Hackers	Dade Murphy
1996	Trainspotting	Sick Boy
1996	Dead Man's Walk	Woodrow F. Call
1997	Afterglow	Jeffrey Byron
1997	Regeneration	2nd Lt. Billy Prior
1999	Plunkett & Macleane	Macleane
1999	Mansfield Park	Edmund Bertram
2000	Love, Honour and Obey	Jonny
2000	Complicity	Cameron Colley
2000	Dracula 2000	Simon Sheppard
2002	The Escapist	Denis Hopkins
2003	Byron	Lord Byron
2004	Mindhunters	Lucas Harper
2004	Melinda and Melinda	Lee
2005	Æon Flux	Oren Goodchild
2006	The Flying Scotsman	Graeme Obree	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Scottish Film Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best British Actor of the Year
2009	Endgame	Michael Young
2012	Dark Shadows	Roger Collins
2012	Byzantium	The Captain

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Doctor Who	Kinda child (uncredited)	Episode: "Kinda: Part One"
1983	Jemima Shore Investigates	Boy with dog	Episode: "A Little Bit of Wildlife"
1983	Mansfield Park	Charles Price	2 episodes
1990	Keeping Up Appearances	Youth	Episode: "Daisy's Toyboy"
1991	4 Play	Dennis Turnbull	Episode: "Itch"
1991	The Bill	Simon Cooper	Episode: "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
1991	Inspector Morse	Student	Episode: "Greeks Bearing Gifts"
1991	Minder	Auctioneer's assistant	Episode: "Three Cons Make a Mountain"
1992	Between the Lines	David Ringwood	Episode: "The Only Good Copper"
1992	Casualty	Matt	Episode: "Tender Loving Care"
1992	Second Thoughts	Chas	Episode: "Short Change"
1993	The Bill	Lee Gibson	Episode: "Mighty Atoms"
1993	EastEnders	Jonathan Hewitt	2 episodes
1994	Mystery!: Cadfael	Edwin Gurney	Episode: "Monk's Hood"
2003	The Canterbury Tales	Arty	Episode: "The Pardoner's Tale"
2006–2007	Smith	Tom	7 episodes
2008–2009	Eli Stone	Eli Stone	26 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy
2009	Emma	Mr. Knightley	4 episodes
2010	Dexter	Jordan Chase	8 episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2012–present	Elementary	Sherlock Holmes	39 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Television Actor – Action

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Beautiful Thing	Ste	Bush Theatre
1999	Four Knights in Knaresborough	Brito	Tricycle Theatre
2004	Festen	Christian	Almeida Theatre
2005	Someone Who'll Watch Over Me	Adam	Ambassadors Theatre
2009	After Miss Julie	John	American Airlines Theatre
2011	Frankenstein	Victor Frankenstein Frankenstein's Monster	Royal National Theatre

See also

• List of actors who have played Sherlock Holmes
• List of British actors and actresses
• List of people from Kingston upon Thames

External links

• Johnny Lee Miller at the Internet Broadway Database (listed as "Johnny")
• Jonny Lee Miller at IMDb