Jonny Lee Miller - Career

Career

After a stint in EastEnders as Jonathan Hewitt, Miller got his big break in the film Hackers (1995), co-starring Angelina Jolie, whom he married in 1996. In 1997, Miller was involved with the creation and operation of Natural Nylon along with friends Jude Law (whom he met in the National Youth Music Theatre), Sadie Frost, Ewan McGregor, Sean Pertwee, Damon Bryant and Bradley Adams. Natural Nylon folded in 2003.

Aside from EastEnders, he has appeared on television in the BBC's modernization of The Canterbury Tales, as Artie in The Pardoner's Tale and as Lord Byron in a BBC production about the life of the poet. He worked on the US television series Smith (CBS, Fall 2006). His first appearance on US Television was the 1996 miniseries Dead Man's Walk.

Shortly after Hackers, Miller was cast in Trainspotting (1996) as Sick Boy, a role which gained him recognition. He was suggested for that role by Ewan McGregor. The accent he used in the film was so convincing that it led many people to erroneously believe he was from Scotland. It states on Miller's website, "As the only non-Scot in the cast Jonny has had to master the accent. "I had to do a lot of work," he confesses, "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 role of Cameron Colley in Complicity (US title Retribution), based on the book by Iain Banks. He costarred alongside Jude Law and Ray Winstone in the film "Love, Honor, And Obey" as Johnny, a London street kid getting mixed-up with a notorious Brit 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, to replace Pierce Brosnan. The role went to Daniel Craig. The following year, Miller portrayed cyclist Graeme Obree in The Flying Scotsman. In 2007, Miller was selected to play the lead role in the series for ABC, called Eli Stone; the series was cancelled after two seasons. The first season had been interrupted by a lengthy writers' strike.

He was considered as the third team-mate to join Ben Fogle and James Cracknell in Team QinetiQ for the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race (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 2009 he played Mr. Knightley in a BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. He also appeared on Broadway with Sienna Miller in a production of "After Miss Julie", his performance receiving generally excellent reviews.

In early 2010, a rumour was floated that Miller was in talks to portray Rick Grimes in the Frank Darabont film adaptation of the comic The Walking Dead but the part went to Andrew Lincoln. He has also starred in the fifth season of Dexter as Jordan Chase, a highly popular motivational speaker who is suspected of leading a gang of serial rapists/murderers.

In March 2011, at the National Theatre, he played, on alternate nights, both Victor Frankenstein and his Creature, opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, in a stage adaptation of Frankenstein. Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle, was broadcast to cinemas worldwide as part of National Theatre Live on 17 March 2011 and additional dates throughout March and April. As of 2012, both he and Cumberbatch played the role of Sherlock Holmes in separate television adaptations, Miller in the CBS program Elementary and Cumberbatch in the BBC show Sherlock.

In May 2011, it was announced that he would have a role in Tim Burton's film Dark Shadows (2012).

In February 2012 it was confirmed Miller had been cast as Sherlock Holmes in the CBS drama Elementary. Lucy Liu was later cast as Watson.