Jonny Lee Miller
The actor on youthful folly and the importance of bedtime stories
I left the UK after Trainspotting and I missed out on a lot of good opportunities. It’s a question of maintaining focus and humility at that stage in your career. That way you are more likely to take the best next step with a clear head. I could have done that a lot better.
Trainspotting
I get why people are interested, but you’ve just got to shut them down. It’s not that it’s irritating, but she is a friend of mine and I’m very protective of my friends.
Some jobs really dug me out of a hole. It got down to the wire. I didn’t panic, but I was quite worried. Then my role in Dexter came along and that helped me turn things around.
That’s all I can say about that.
There’s a great volume of work being made out there, and a lot of crap gets produced, but it’s a very positive working environment. I like the lack of cynicism in working with a group of dedicated people.
It was quite life- affirming to learn that.
When you’ve knocked around the world as much as I have, it is amazing to have that sort of consistent and dependable companionship.
No matter what else is going on, if you have that to do in the evening, it really puts things into perspective. It is as therapeutic for me as it is for my son.
He brings so much to the preparations and rehearsal process. I learnt so much from him.
Acting felt like going into the family business for me, which helped in terms of giving me that extra bit of confidence from a young age. Blindly stumbling forward, thinking it was what I was supposed to do, was quite helpful. My greatest fear is something
happening to my little one.
I have a bit of an obsession with singing contests on TV. I could tell you the difference between each and every one.
I don’t really know what that word means. I’ve always managed to stay slightly under the radar, so I don’t have much experience of paparazzi following me. But I’ve seen it happen to my friends. I cannot understand it when people camp outside their homes. I feel really quite good about being 40. Touch wood, I am in a nice place, I am in good shape and everything is on the right track. I’m happy, so I couldn’t give a s**t what age I am.
— Abigail Radnor © The Times, London • Jonny Lee Miller stars as Sherlock Holmes in Elementary.