One of the things I’ve always loved the most about Jonny Lee Miller is that he’s never had a bad word to say about his first wife, Angelina Jolie. Jonny and Angelina remained close friends after their divorce, and in 2021, I was obsessed with the idea that they could get back together. They went out to dinner in Beverly Hills! She visited his apartment in New York! She moved to New York last year! Come on! Unfortunately for my reunion fantasy, Jonny is currently in London, working on a play in the West End. The play is A Mirror and the first run was well-received. In any case, JLM recently chatted with the Guardian about the play, the 1990s, Trainspotting and the fact that he’s become a volunteer firefighter in Long Island!! OMG.
The best and worst parts of returning to the UK for a play: “Well, I get to see people I haven’t seen, which is a gift. But at the same time you can’t watch football on television on a Saturday, when they play the games, which is just a constant source of bemusement and makes me furious. So that’s a problem.”
Qualifying as a volunteer firefighter: “Yeah, just when I was leaving last summer to come to the Almeida, I did get to go on my first fire. The siren goes off, our pagers go off, and I ran out of my house, and I could smell the smoke in the air, so it was very close. And the pager tells us that we have a residential structure fire, which is serious. So it was nerve-racking and you just don’t want to make a mistake. But we actually managed to get this fire put out before it took two houses, and nobody got hurt. So it was the perfect call-out really.
Trainspotting is a treasured memory: “Of course. I owe so much to that experience. Especially the older you get, the more you look back and think: “Wow, how lucky to have been involved in something like that.” Whatever else happens, you can always be proud of that.
He’s always felt like he didn’t fully capitalize on Trainspotting’s success: “Yeah, but it’s not something that bothers me. It’s just life. Everything worked out great, really. I was secretly ambitious, but I didn’t really know how to execute that or take advantage of certain opportunities. But it’s all good, because I’m here in a freezing-cold church rehearsing a play!
His own experience as a ‘90s guy: “I can’t remember! Look, just absolute joy is what pops into my head. You’re in a successful movie, so you get to hang out with Oasis and stuff like that, and I just loved all that sh-t. We were young and having fun, so no harm done really. It’s the time when you’ve just left home and you’re figuring out how to negotiate your career path, people and relationships. But I’m glad it’s all over though!
Being in high profile relationships before social media: “Yep. I can’t really imagine… And I don’t know how people navigate that when they’re doing the kind of sh-t I was doing.
Playing John Major in The Crown: “One hundred per cent changed my perspective. I was raised in a very, very socialist household, but the more I read about Sir John, the more I liked him. He’s one of the most misunderstood politicians ever: he was very magnetic and had a great sense of humour. That’s actually how Peter Morgan [the creator of The Crown] described him to me. He said: “He’s George f–king Clooney!” Oh right, what am I doing here then?
His plans for his future: “I don’t live extravagantly and I’d like to be able to make enough money acting so that I can be a firefighter and a parent as much as possible. My child is everything to me. And I don’t need to work for the sake of it, so the less work I do, the more I can put into it. My dream is to not be on everyone’s screens too much, but to make it good when I am.
Gah, I might have to do an Elementary rewatch after the Australian Open – I need to watch JLM in action again. Anyway, I adore him and I think it’s cool that he has great memories of the ‘90s but he has no regrets about where he is now. He seems at peace. I began following him on Instagram at some point and he’s really into martial arts (but not in a creepy way) and he just seems to live quietly in New York with his son and at least one dog and cat? His volunteer-firefighter stuff is amazing too. Please, he and Angelina would be perfect together now, after all of this time. Sob.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
- Jonny Lee Miller at The Crown Season 5 World Premiere at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London, UK, on 8th November 2022.,Image: 736053860, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
- Jonny Lee Miller photographed at the World Premiere of The Crown Season 5 on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 held at Theatre Royal Drury Lane .,Image: 736082518, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
- Jonny Lee Miller attends ‘The Crown’ Season 5 World Premiere at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, England. Tuesday 8th November 2022 -,Image: 736258636, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: The Crown Season 5 World Premiere, Credit line: JW / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
- Jonny Lee Miller attends ‘The Crown’ Season 5 World Premiere at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, England. Tuesday 8th November 2022 -,Image: 736258641, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: The Crown Season 5 World Premiere, Credit line: JW / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
- Jonny Lee Miller at the The Crown Finale Celebration at Royal Festival Hall in Waterloo, London, United Kingdom on 5 December 2023.,Image: 827292118, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
- Jonny Lee Miller at The Crown Finale Celebration, Royal Festival Hall in Waterloo, London on 5 December 2023,Image: 830985097, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: celebrityphotos uk / Avalon
