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From wedding Angelina Jolie to playing Sherlock Holmes,
Miller has kept busy between Trainspotting films...
07
FEATURE
CINEMA
“If Sick Boy is cool then the
credit has to go to screenwriter
John Hodge, and his vision. I just
show up and play it. I remember
with the first movie, people
were like ‘Oh, Sick Boy’s so f–
ing cool’. And he was! The hair
and everything. Now he ain’t so
cool, at all. Because he’s kind of
stuck, and it was very interesting
to me to show that, like, if you
get stuck, and he’s still trying
to be that, but it’s not working.
The whole film is interesting like
that to me, because some of
the characters are really stuck in
place, and hopefully, I think that’s
relatable to people. We’re not
trying to recreate the cool vibe of
Trainspotting
, because what’s the
point in doing that?”
Miller also debunks the popular
theory that
T2: Trainspotting
is a
literal translation of Irvine Welsh’s
sequel novel,
Porno
. At the heart
of
T2
– just like the original – is
the relationships.
“I think that’s what people
really identify with, and what was
refreshing about the first movie
is that the hero does that to his
friends at the end – and he’s still
sort of remembered as the hero
of the movie,” he offers.
“People let each other down
all the time and they do selfish
things, for whatever reason, and
things aren’t always black and
white, and there’s not always right
and wrong, and that happens in
groups of people, and I think that
was really relatable, so
T2
looks
at that,“ adds Miller, although his
lips are firmly sealed regarding
T2
’s plot.
“The first film didn’t have a
plot,” he argues. “It’s just a group
of friends interacting, and then at
the end, they get some drugs, and
go down and do a drug deal. That’s
really the plot! That’s it! There’s
no plot! And it’s kind of the same
model for the second movie. It’s
a group of people interacting, and
how their actions have affected
one another.”
Returning to Edinburgh to
shoot
T2
was also surreal, he
says. “First time round, we could
run around doing whatever we
wanted, and no one cared
or bothered. But this time,
people were freaking out and
we were getting followed
by paparazzi, and they’re
trying to shelter our costumes and
saying ‘Put your hood on when
you get your hair dyed,’ and I was
like ‘What’s the f–ing point?’ And
it was Danny who said, ‘It’s like
they’re f–ing Star Wars up there!’
But it’s true. It brings a lot of
people, and a level of excitement
which is quite alarming.”
Wed four years to Angelina Jolie
after they met on his first film,
Hackers
, Miller has had enough
excitement to last a lifetime, today
married to actress Michele Hicks
with whom he has an eight-year-
old son, Buster.
“People liked to imagine I was
like Sick Boy but I’ve never been
that guy. In my spare time I like to
run marathons,” he reveals.
“I’m happy living in New York
and I just wanted to continue
doing
Elementary
for as long as
they let us. Ride that one out and
see what happens next. I’m a
parent, so I’m just looking to raise
my kid well.”
In the first film they're a group in the
same situation, and here, they are
four individuals in very
different places
•
T2:
Trainspotting
is
in cinemas
on Feb 23
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(2012– )
Miller was reunited with his
Trainspotting
co-star Robert
Carlyle in this period action-
comedy. The pair play 18th
century highwaymen, with
Macleane (Miller) the brains
and Plunkett (Carlyle) the
brawn. The film was a flop on
its initial release but found a
cult following on home video,
thanks largely to its stars.
Miller plays Dade "Zero Cool"
Murphy in this futuristic
(well, for 1995) cyberpunk
thriller that explores the
hacker subculture. It also
stars young Angelina Jolie
in her first major film role, as
Miller's fellow high school
hacker and love interest. The
pair wed the following year
and divorced in 1999.
Miller starred as the
eponymous San Francisco
lawyer who is diagnosed with
a brain aneurysm that causes
him to suffer bizarre visions,
which he interprets as signs.
Convinced he has a higher
purpose, he accepts hard luck
cases for altruistic reasons
rather than financial gain. The
show ran for two seasons.
While Benedict Cumberbatch
was reinventing Sherlock
Holmes on British TV, Miller
was doing the same thing
Stateside, albeit partnered
with Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy
Lui). Essentially transplanting
the super sleuth into a New
York-set police procedural,
the series owes much of its
success to Miller's portrayal.