Jonny Lee Miller goes back to where it all began

NANCY MILLS
NYT Syndicate
Who would have thought that an outlandish-yet-hilarious tale about young Edinburgh dopeheads would become a cult classic? Certainly not its director, future Oscar winner Danny Boyle, or its unknown actors ” Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller ” most of whom became stars overnight.
Trainspotting (1996) wasn't a high-grossing film, nor was its title meaningful to most Americans. For the literal-minded, 'trainspotting' refers to a British hobby of collecting serial numbers of trains. Colloquially, it also can refer to substance abuse.
Now, 21 years later, the movie has a sequel, T2 Trainspotting, with the same director, same screenwriter (John Hodge) and same cast. It is scheduled to open on March 17 in the United States.
When last seen two decades ago, lifelong buddies Renton (McGregor), Spud (Bremner), Begbie (Carlyle) and Sick Boy (Miller) had fallen out over money. They'd sold (some merchandise) and one of them absconded with the proceeds.
Now all the lads are back in Edinburgh, picking up where they left off. They have been through a great deal in the intervening years, and they're more wrinkled and maybe one percent wiser. Will friendship overcome anger? Who will survive until the final credits? Can audiences decipher the thick Scottish accents?
Why have they all returned?
"At first it wasn't something that seemed like a really good idea," Miller admitted."But, once I read the script, it was a no-brainer.
"I always said that there was no point in making a sequel unless you're examining some bigger issues," he continued."Making the 20-year time difference a huge part of the film was really important. What's it like being older? What have you done? What happened to the characters, and what are the implications?"
The British actor was speaking by telephone from a soundstage in Long Island City where his show, 'Elementary', was filming. He plays a modern-day Sherlock Holmes opposite Lucy Liu's Dr Joan Watson. They are in the midst of shooting Episode 17 of Season 5 and wondering if CBS will renew the series for a sixth season.
Miller's Trainspotting character, Sick Boy, would be shocked to know that he shares a body with Sherlock Holmes.
"I don't think Sick Boy would have much time for Sherlock," Miller said."He isn't interested in people who are more intelligent than him.
"I think Sick Boy is a sharp guy," he continued."You have to be, if you're going to be such a schemer and charm ferret. Emotional intelligence and common sense are different things. Sick Boy is really quite bright, but he's making bad choices, which lead to frustration."
Back in 1996 Sick Boy was a bleached-blond, narcissistic young man with a certain level of cool. Those qualities still apply in 2017, but he has come down in the world. His two ambitions are to open a brothel and to take revenge on Renton, who stole the money. He's still blond, but is now slightly seedy.
"I was very attracted to playing that," Miller said."I liked the fact that he's in trouble. He's not as smooth as he used to be.
"Sick Boy is stuck," he continued."He hasn't really made a lot of emotional headway. He keeps repeating his patterns of behaviour. He's clearly struggling."
T2 Trainspotting is Miller's first movie in four years, thanks mainly to his ongoing obligation to 'Elementary'. It was made 20 years after Trainspotting launched him in Hollywood.
"I don't know what it's saying, but I think it encourages reflection," he said."I don't think you have to see the first one, especially if you're a little older. You'll certainly be thinking about the past 20 years ” whatever they mean to you."
A great deal has happened to the 44-year-old actor in those past two decades. Back in 1996 he was a rising star in England, with more than two dozen films, television and theatre credits. Before Trainspotting he had completed Hackers (1995), a crime drama with Angelina Jolie. The two became a couple, and in 1996 married.
"I didn't experience Trainspotting as sudden fame," Miller said."I'd been a working actor for many years previously, so it didn't affect me at all.
"Fame is really to do with how you're going to get by professionally and all the opportunities that come along with that," he continued."I managed to find work, but I didn't really capitalise on it. Instead I ignored a lot of it and dropped off the map for a little bit. I did a few small movies in Scotland, screwed up lots of auditions and spent time in Los Angeles."
He and Jolie divorced in 1999, and Miller returned to England to resume his career there. In 2008 he married actress Michele Hicks, with whom he has an 8-year-old son, Buster. They now live in New York, and Miller became an American citizen in 2014.
Before landing 'Elementary' Miller appeared in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda (2004), Aeon Flux (2005), the television miniseries 'Emma' (2009) as Mr Knightley and Tim Burton's Dark Shadows (2012). He also tried to establish himself on American television, starring in 'Smith' (2006-2007) and 'Eli Stone' (2008-2009) and playing a guest arc on 'Dexter' (2010).
Then came 'Elementary' and a level of stability that is rare in Miller's unstable profession. He appreciates its value, because he comes from an acting family: His great-grandfather was an actor and his grandfather, Bernard Lee, played M in 11 James Bond films, starting with Dr No (1962).
Miller's parents were both actors, and they weren't fazed when he announced, at age 7, that he wanted to join the family business. He was 10 when he landed his first professional acting job, in an episode of 'Dr Who' (1982).
"I had supportive parents," Miller said,"as long I stayed in school to a certain point."
That point came at 16, when Miller dropped out of school to pursue acting full-time.
"Amazingly, I had confidence in my abilities," he recalled."Confidence is a large part of the job. It comes and goes throughout your life, and it has definitely left me on occasion.
"But I've never been given a single penny I didn't make myself," Miller added."I've always been very proud of that. I remind myself of that when I go through fallow periods: I've always paid the rent. I was never overconfident. I knew this was the thing I could do better than anything else. I just have to keep working on it."
'Elementary' has allowed him to do exactly that.
"We've done well over 100 episodes," Miller said, sounding pleased."Sherlock Holmes is fascinating. We're always introducing new characters, new actors and interesting story lines and situations.
"The first year was the toughest," he continued,"but now we've got a system in place which makes us go a lot quicker. We shoot all over New York, and we get weekends off to be with our families."
The success of the show, the actor said, is attributable at least in part to its exploration of the classic tropes from the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.
"We're doing serialised stories, but there's also a through-story that really works for the character and the relationship between Holmes and Watson," he said."That's the way the original stories are, and that satisfies Holmes fans. We don't want to be changing things around."
Five years in, Miller added, he still isn't bored with the character he plays.
"When I dug into the stories initially, I wanted to find out some things I hadn't seen on the screen recently," he said."What surprised me was that he seems much more of a people person and a big supporter of the underdog.
"He has quite a big heart," Miller said."That worked really well juxtaposed with his struggles with addiction. People would be able to relate to that. He's struggling, yet he's a people person and he has this huge intellect. He has these internal conflicts going, and it seemed to me to be an absolutely wonderful mixture. It's rare that you come across something that suits you so much.
"It's a real privilege to play Sherlock Holmes more than anyone else ever has."