STACK NZ Feb #81

FEATURE CINEMA

In the first film they're a group in the same situation, and here, they are four individuals in very different places

“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

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

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

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.”

• T2: Trainspotting is in cinemas on Feb 23

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From wedding Angelina Jolie to playing Sherlock Holmes, Miller has kept busy between Trainspotting films...

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 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 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

(/(0(17$5< (2012– ) 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.

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