Top 59 Quotes & Sayings by Jonny Lee Miller

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a British actor Jonny Lee Miller.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
Jonny Lee Miller

Jonathan Lee Miller is an English-American film, television and theatre actor. 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), 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. 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.

I consider myself really lucky and I always have done. My approach is that if I know I'm relaxed and happy, then I will do my best work.
The whole point of being an actor is to get satisfaction out of a role - unless you're just vain about celebrity. You're always looking for the one thing that will surprise you.
Theater is just so much more satisfying than film or television just because you deliver the whole thing from start to finish in one evening, and you can tell if people have enjoyed it or not. That's great to do every night to go in front of a full room of people and tell the story. There's nothing like that really.
I don't want to talk about the specifics of other people's performances compared with my own. I'd never do that. — © Jonny Lee Miller
I don't want to talk about the specifics of other people's performances compared with my own. I'd never do that.
The whole thing about the way I approach work is to be surprised by an opportunity when it comes up. So I have no idea what I will be doing next, and I kind of like that.
That really sets great directors apart from good directors: their ability to make you feel like you matter, even if your part is much smaller. That's one thing I found with most of the great directors I worked with: They all have that skill. Not everyone takes the time.
I believe in Danny Boyle. I really do. I know that he's not going to pull the trigger on something if it's not right.
The script for 'Trainspotting' was amazing, and it was different from the book.
For me, the most satisfying time to work with people, and time when it really works, is when you work with directors that are into the truth of any sort of situation.
Some people can handle fame, some can't.
Attention to detail - Sherlock certainly has that, and my memory is pretty good - but not as good as his.
It's very strange to become a character: the lines get blurred, and you start to sort of, I don't know, take it home too much?
I used a bike in London and that's it. I learnt a lot about biking, and really got into. Now I cycle regularly.
I've done a few marathons. I've done a 50-mile one and even a 100-mile one.
I try to avoid talking about my personal life, but I certainly don't get angry about it - I just don't talk about it. — © Jonny Lee Miller
I try to avoid talking about my personal life, but I certainly don't get angry about it - I just don't talk about it.
I like to play different types roles, but I'd like to do a comedy next.
Being part of 'Natural Nylon' is a great way to have an influence on the films that get out there. I love films and it gives me an input.
You don't sign up to 'Trainspotting' expecting glamour.
I made some really bad decisions, and I turned a lot of work down and kind of got lost in life.
I'm not great... in large groups of people, but I'm not shy anymore.
It sounds so incredibly selfish, but you just can't earn the same money doing theater as you can doing television and film. I know that's awful, but you get a mortgage and a family, and suddenly, paying that seems quite important.
I always know I can die at any moment.
There is nothing, not a thing, like the process of creating a character for the stage - you can't get it anywhere else. Unless you're totally method and spend six months living your life like your character for a film, the theater is the place to get that intense acting experience.
I was really unfit for a while, so once I began running, I developed an obsession with it and started feeling really good. Then I thought I'd run a marathon after watching the London Marathon on TV. So I did it and had a good time. And then I ended up doing a bunch, and I was like, 'What if I could go further?' So I found out about Ultra Marathons.
You're always looking for good scripts and when they're not always forthcoming you go mad.
If I thought of myself as a movie star, I'd be an idiot. I don't know anyone who thinks like that. I don't even know movie stars who think like that.
I get things in my head every once in a while and decide I must experience them, no matter how ridiculous.
I'd go anywhere to work, so long as it's worth it.
If you're serious about what you're doing, you've got to keep your head and follow your instinct. Maybe you won't reach the same dizzy heights as others, but you will get something back.
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. 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.
I'm not really the cool dude at all.
I am constantly disappointing people up in Scotland by not being Scottish!
If people know too much about you, I think you become a little less interesting as an actor - your job is to fool people.
I'm glad I don't live in Primrose Hill any more. I couldn't even walk through the park. You never invite that kind of attention.
I really wouldn't want to live in America. I found New York claustrophobic and dirty. I missed England when I was there, simple things like smells and the British sense of humor.
I find that quite enjoyable, trying to see the downsides of someone.
Some kids are good at math, some kids can run, and acting was an interest of mine. Because I knew you could do it for a living I decided, that's what I'm going to do.
I've always been, since I was a little kid, and my son is quite observant, too.
I think so many men have this really sharp feeling of being a disappointment in their mid-forties. There's probably something chemical about it - the drop of testosterone, the fact that you don't feel the same way physically. It's a real thing. You do tend to feel like a disappointment.
I spent a couple of months just riding a bike doing my own training in the streets. — © Jonny Lee Miller
I spent a couple of months just riding a bike doing my own training in the streets.
Vampires are immortal, you can do whatever you want, and get away with it. And there's the seduction part of course, sex is a big part of the vampire thing.
New York and LA are both great places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live in either of them now. I find New York extremely claustrophobic and dirty. LA is quite a nice place. But there's no hustle and bustle, no street life.
I'm a pretty happy person, to be honest with you.
It takes a lot to shock me.
Even when you're producing difficult material and you get emotional, after it you feel good; you feel like you've done a good job, or had an emotional release. I've always enjoyed that, but you go home and think, that was a good day's work, and you move on.
As far as 'Trainspotting' changing my life, I think I've said before I probably squandered a few opportunities. But I'm fine with that because everything's fine.
I love running.
I've never taken myself too seriously, I'm not into that.
I really respect the world that Arthur Conan Doyle created and the way that that has been able to be reinterpreted over and over again.
I dont think any actor has the luxury of knowing exactly what scripts are going to turn out well and what ones arent. 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.
When you're shooting 20-odd episodes in a season, the last thing you want is for each script to be the same tone. — © Jonny Lee Miller
When you're shooting 20-odd episodes in a season, the last thing you want is for each script to be the same tone.
When you're playing a character, you don't really want to have an opinion about where you're going to end up. Otherwise, you can't really stay in the moment and in your character.
Computers creating art is an upsetting concept mostly because of what it means about humans.
If youre serious about what youre doing, youve got to keep your head and follow your instinct. Maybe you wont reach the same dizzy heights as others, but you will get something back.
Chess is one thing, but if we get to the point computers can best humans in the arts-those splendid, millennia-old expressions of the heart and soul of human existence-then why bother existing? to produce human art a computer would have to find, feel, absorb reality to the point it is overcome, to the point it sobs for release. A computer perhaps could replicate every possibility but could never transfer the energy art requires to exist in the first place.
For me, there are two different things that make Sherlock Sherlock. One is, you know, within the books: obviously he's a genius with an attention to detail, his ravenous hunger for all aspects of knowledge that might feed into his work. But the major thing that makes him Sherlock is his relationship with Watson - their friendship. For me, that, I guess, is the biggest side, the more interesting side than the genius.
The whole point of being an actor is to get satisfaction out of a role -- unless you're just vain about celebrity. You're always looking for the one thing that will surprise you.
I think Danny Boyle's got it in his head that we all still look too young (to do a 'Trainspotting' sequel.) But, I mean, I don't look like anyone I play, anyways, so I don't really know where that comes from. Because, you know, you change yourself for the roles. I'm actually not Scottish, either!
You're trying to bring a character to an audience, and tell stories. That's what we're all trying do.
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