| JONNY,
REMEMBER ME?
Five years ago, Jonny Lee Miller had it all – good looks,
hit movies and Angelina Jolie. Today, only the good looks
remain. Interview: Paul Byrne
Of all the faces to be launched by 1996’s cult fave Trainspotting,
Jonny Lee Miller’s handsome, smirking visage seemed the most
likely to become Incredibly Famous. But it was Ewan McGregor
and Robert Carlyle who went on to fame and fortune, with even
the aesthetically challenged Ewan Bremner currently enjoying
far more success than his pretty boy co-star. Thanks to some
Really Dumb Movie Choices, Jonny Lee Miller today seems to
be yesterday’s hero.
“I was pretty much the Next Big Thing when Trainspotting
happened,” muses the 29-year old, Surrey-born actor. “And
for a while, that was pretty cool. But you make choices, some
for commercial reasons, some for artistic reasons, that don’t
necessarily play into that Hollywood system. And that’s pretty
much what happened to me.”
It was the aforementioned Trainspotting, and his turn as
the smooth-talking Sick Boy, that launched Miller into the
limelight back in 1996. The year before he’d made his Hollywood
debut as the teenage whizzkid hacker in, er, Hackers, and
by the time Trainspotting became The Hippest Film Ever Made
– Ever!, Miller was married to fellow pseudo-computer nerd
Angelina Jolie. In 1996, the world – and, perhaps more poignantly,
the voluptuous Ms Jolie – were at Jonny Lee Miller’s feet.
Then came Plunkett & Macleane, Love, Honour & Obey and straight-to-video
arse like Complicity.
“I don’t think any actor has the luxury of knowing exactly
what scripts are going to turn out well and what ones aren’t,”
offers Miller. “It would be wonderful to have that particular
skill, and maybe people like Tom Cruise have it more than
most, but you go into each project hoping that a good, if
not great, film will come out the other end. All you can do
is look out for good scripts, and interesting people to work
with.”
Which makes Miller’s latest choice all the more baffling.
From the ‘house’ of Wes Craven (the master of schlock horror
who brought us Nightmare On Elm Street and the Scream trilogy,
as well as a truckload of sub-Roger Corman crap), Dracula
2001 is a pretty crass attempt at bringing old Fang Boy into
the 21st century. But even those expecting a slick MTV-style,
strobe-edited onslaught of cool images and top pop tunes will
be disappointed; Dracula 2001 is pure Ed Wood. Or, worse,
Roger Corman. Except not even half as funny.
Miller plays orphan gopher Simon Sheppard, more than a little
shocked when his mentor and father figure Abraham Van Helsing
(Christopher Plummer) gets his liederhosen in a major twist
after a coffin is stolen from his high security vault. What
simple Simon soon realises though is that this particular
coffin has remained sealed in said vault for over a hundred
years, and with good reason. Soon, the dopey designer burglars
are being systematically turned into an army of the walking
dead, with only the mad professor and his spunky young sidekick
(plus, of course, the obligatory hot young totty, played by
Justine Waddell) standing between them and world domination.
Ha, ha, ha (try to imagine lots of reverb here).
“I thought this would be a fun film to do,” offers Miller
in his defense. “It’s meant to be a bit of fun really, with
lots of blood and mysticism thrown in. I was thinking more
of Buffy and Angel and that particular slant on vampires and
beasts when I took it on. You have to let your hair down a
little, now and then.”
Hmm. And you’ve also got to pay the rent, I guess. With a
film career that’s been stalled for three years now, Miller
has become known more for the women in his life of late rather
than the life in his celluloid offerings. Most recently he
was connected with All Saint Natalie Appleton (the two voted
Hippest Couple Of The Year 2000 by some trendy mag or other),
but it was his marriage to the weird and wonderful Ms Jolie
that set the tabloids on Miller. The bride wore black leather,
with her man’s white shirt boasting the word ‘Jonny’ in big
bold red letters on the back. Having been written with bold,
red blood, something of a fixation with our Angelina, it would
seem.
“It was strange, dealing with the sudden tabloid interest
in your every move,” muses Miller, “but it was fun too. For
a while. It was a very intense relationship, very passionate,
and you can never regret being involved in something like
that. It was sad that it ended, but I wouldn’t change a thing
about it. Well, except maybe my haircut.”
And what does Miller think of Jolie’s latest squeeze, Billy
Bob Thornton?
“Well, they seem enormously happy together,” he offers, “and
that’s all that really matters in any relationship. It should
never be based on what the media think, or what other people
think. If two people are extremely happy together, then that’s
wonderful.”
Having been there, done that as far as being a media darling
is concerned, Miller is decidedly more cagey about his personal
life these days.
“It’s difficult to keep a proper perspective on your relationship
with someone when you’re constantly surrounded by tabloid
gossip, rumours, or photographers waiting for you to kiss
or whatever. I just don’t think it’s a healthy environment
really, so I’ve decided to step back into the shadows a bit
more from now on.”
Which, given that he’s making dross like Dracula 2001, shouldn’t
really be all that difficult.
Currently busy setting up a series of plays in London to
“promote the classics as well as new writing” under the umbrella
of Natural Nylon, the production company Miller owns and runs
with fellow actors Jude Law and Ewan McGregor, you get the
impression this particular actor will be spending more and
more time working behind the scenes.
“I enjoy the acting, but I find myself less and less enthralled
by it,” finishes Miller. “It’s still a magical thing, but
I feel that a little time away from it, working in other areas,
would do me good. It’s important to feel excited about your
work.”
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