Trainspotting’s Jonny Lee Miller: ‘If I could make a living being a firefighter, I may well just do that’

Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer

Jonny Lee Miller is a 51-year-old British actor who has played Sick Boy in Trainspotting, Sherlock Holmes in Elementary and John Major in The Crown. In 2012 he won a joint Olivier award with Benedict Cumberbatch for Frankenstein on stage, and this month stars in the West End transfer of Sam Holcroft’s play A Mirror, which was a sell-out hit at the Almeida last summer. Miller lives mainly in New York, where he is a volunteer firefighter, and has a 15-year-old son.

How does it feel to go on stage every night? Are there nerves? Terror?Yeah, I wouldn’t call it terror. It’s frightening, for sure, but that’s what makes it so much fun. It’s really the most fun you’re going to have acting. Because it’s live and people demonstrate their enjoyment of it. You don’t get that electric experience from even some of the most intense things doing film and television.

A Mirror starts out as a wedding at which the audience are guests. But it soon becomes clear that it’s actually an underground dramatic performance set in an unspecified totalitarian society. What appealed to you about the play?Honestly, all the characters have a journey. I know that sounds cliched, but they’re all not what they seem. And there are many layers. So we have a play within a play within a play at some point. My character is the minister of culture, who thinks he’s a good guy, but is he? So the play explores artistic expression, truth, fiction and censorship. Which makes it sound quite heavy, but it’s actually very funny.

What’s the best and worst thing about being back in the UK?Well, I get to see people I haven’t seen, which is a gift. But at the same time you can’t watch football on television on a Saturday, when they play the games, which is just a constant source of bemusement and makes me furious. So that’s a problem.

You qualified last year as a volunteer firefighter in Long Island, New York. Have you seen any action yet?Yeah, just when I was leaving last summer to come to the Almeida, I did get to go on my first fire. The siren goes off, our pagers go off, and I ran out of my house, and I could smell the smoke in the air, so it was very close. And the pager tells us that we have a residential structure fire, which is serious. So it was nerve-racking and you just don’t want to make a mistake. But we actually managed to get this fire put out before it took two houses, and nobody got hurt. So it was the perfect call-out really.

You’re in a successful movie, so you get to hang out with Oasis and stuff like that, and I just loved all that shit

It’s probably a trite comparison, but how does the buzz compare to, say, getting the very good reviews for A Mirror?Acting, we tell stories, and that serves a function and it’s important. But to respond to a medical emergency or just to be able to actually have an impact like that on somebody else’s life, it doesn’t really compare. Honestly, if I could make a living doing it, I may well just do that.

Does Trainspotting remain as treasured for you as it does for many of us?Of course. I owe so much to that experience. Especially the older you get, the more you look back and think: “Wow, how lucky to have been involved in something like that.” Whatever else happens, you can always be proud of that.

You’ve suggested before that you didn’t fully capitalise on the success of the film. Do you still feel that?Yeah, but it’s not something that bothers me. It’s just life. Everything worked out great, really. I was secretly ambitious, but I didn’t really know how to execute that or take advantage of certain opportunities. But it’s all good, because I’m here in a freezing-cold church rehearsing a play!

There’s been a 90s revival trend the past few years. When you think of your own personal experience of the decade, what pops into your head?I can’t remember! Look, just absolute joy is what pops into my head. You’re in a successful movie, so you get to hang out with Oasis and stuff like that, and I just loved all that shit. We were young and having fun, so no harm done really. It’s the time when you’ve just left home and you’re figuring out how to negotiate your career path, people and relationships. But I’m glad it’s all over though!

You had some high-profile relationships, including being married to Angelina Jolie. Are you relieved social media wasn’t around back then?Yep. I can’t really imagine… And I don’t know how people navigate that when they’re doing the kind of shit I was doing.

You were cast, somewhat against type, as John Major in The Crown. Did you change your perspective on him?One hundred per cent changed my perspective. I was raised in a very, very socialist household, but the more I read about Sir John, the more I liked him. He’s one of the most misunderstood politicians ever: he was very magnetic and had a great sense of humour. That’s actually how Peter Morgan [the creator of The Crown] described him to me. He said: “He’s George fucking Clooney!” Oh right, what am I doing here then?

What would you predict and hope for yourself for the next few years?Oh, Jesus! I don’t live extravagantly and I’d like to be able to make enough money acting so that I can be a firefighter and a parent as much as possible. My child is everything to me. And I don’t need to work for the sake of it, so the less work I do, the more I can put into it. My dream is to not be on everyone’s screens too much, but to make it good when I am.

It sounds like you’re in a good place…Thanks, man, it’s only taken me 50 years.