Jonny Lee Miller

Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is a British actor.

Miller was born on 15 November 1972, in Kingston-upon-Thames, Greater London and was raised in south west London.

The son of Ann (née Lee) and Alan Miller, he was inspired by his parents to go into acting.

Both were theatre actors.

His grandfather was actor Bernard Lee, who played M in the first eleven James Bond films.

Miller attended Tiffin School as a child.

He appeared in several school plays such as The Ragged Child and performed as part of the Tiffin Swing Band.

He joined the National Youth Music Theatre, where he met fellow actor Jude Law.

He left school, aged 16 after taking his GCSEs, to pursue an acting career.

Miller made his television debut with an uncredited appearance in the BBC series Doctor Who at the age of nine 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 television shows throughout the 1990s.

These included Keeping Up Appearances in 1990, followed by Inspector Morse and Minder in 1991.

In 1991, he costarred, with Alexei Sayle in "'Itch", which was broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the 4 Play strand, a platform for a series of one-off plays that ran from 1989 to 1991.

The play was written by Alexei Sayle and David Stafford.

Miller played "Dennis Turnbull", the teenaged son of Gordon and Susan Turnbull.

He appeared in two separate guest roles in the ITV police drama The Bill, one in 1991 and another in 1993, as well as single-episode roles in the BBC drama Between the Lines and the medical drama Casualty, both of which were broadcast in 1992.

In 1993's third instalment of Prime Suspect, Miller played a young man victimised as a child by a paedophile.

His first notable acting role that year was in the soap opera EastEnders, wherein he played Jonathan Hewitt.

Miller later revealed he had been offered a contract to remain on the show but declined: "It was five weeks' 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."

He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film Trainspotting (1996) and as Dade Murphy in Hackers (1995) before earning further critical recognition for his performances in Afterglow (1997), Mansfield Park (1999), Mindhunters (2004),The Flying Scotsman (2006), Endgame (2009), and T2 Trainspotting (2017).

For The Flying Scotsman he received a London Film Critics' Circle nomination for Actor of the Year.

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 canceled after only seven episodes.

Miller was then cast as the eponymous character in the legal comedy drama Eli Stone.

The show ran for two seasons on ABC and he received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor.

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, most notably After Miss Julie and Frankenstein, the latter of which earned him an Olivier Award for Best Actor.

Miller starred as the title 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 then co-starred with Romola Garai in the 2009 BBC costume drama Emma as George Knightley.

Miller appeared in 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 that Andrew Lincoln had been cast.

In 2011, Miller auditioned for the role of Sherlock Holmes in the 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 reviewing the script he accepted the part, and it was officially announced he would star in Elementary, alongside Lucy Liu.

From 2012 to 2019 he starred as a modern-day version of Sherlock Holmes in the CBS crime drama Elementary, which earned him his second Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor.

In 2022, he played British prime minister John Major in the fifth season of the Netflix historical drama The Crown.