Top 35 Jonny Lee Miller Quotes

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.

If people know too much about you, I think you become a little less interesting as an actor – your job is to fool people.

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.

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.

I love running.

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’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.

You don’t sign up to ‘Trainspotting’ expecting glamour.

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’m not really the cool dude at all.

It takes a lot to shock me.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I’d go anywhere to work, so long as it’s worth it.

Attention to detail – Sherlock certainly has that, and my memory is pretty good – but not as good as his.

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 used a bike in London and that’s it. I learnt a lot about biking, and really got into. Now I cycle regularly.

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 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 find that quite enjoyable, trying to see the downsides of someone.

I made some really bad decisions, and I turned a lot of work down and kind of got lost in life.

I always know I can die at any moment.

I don’t want to talk about the specifics of other people’s performances compared with my own. I’d never do that.

The script for ‘Trainspotting’ was amazing, and it was different from the book.

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.

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.

I’ve done a few marathons. I’ve done a 50-mile one and even a 100-mile one.

I’m not great… in large groups of people, but I’m not shy anymore.

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 am constantly disappointing people up in Scotland by not being Scottish!

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.

I spent a couple of months just riding a bike doing my own training in the streets.

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.