Of all the unsettling things to come from watching season five of The Crown - from the recreation, line by line, of Tampax-gate *shudder* to the slightly uncomfortable feeling of 'is this all a bit too soon?' regarding The Queen - I certainly did not expect to be fighting off 'feelings' for Jonny Lee Miller as former Prime Minister John Major. I know. JOHN MAJOR. Politics aside, he was literally dubbed 'the grey man'. How can this be happening?
In my defence, despite the hair and makeup department's best efforts to transform JLM into the former Prime Minister, the actor's innate attractiveness just shines through. If you're looking at the images of JLM as JM and thinking WTF? I would say you need to have watched the full series to get the full impact of JLM's version of JM.
Because The Crown has decided to portray Major as a thoughtful diplomat, offering wise and compassionate counsel to the Queen and tenderly mediating Charles and Diana's divorce. This John Major is smooth, calm and collected. Not a blithering idiot as the show has depicted other prime ministers. The Crown shows him in a very positive light - needless to say, many, many people will vehemently disagree with this flattering portrayal.
John Major himself is said not to be a fan of the new season of The Crown, dismissing it as a 'barrel-load of nonsense' but I think he should be pleased with how well he comes off.
If you're not familiar with Jonny Lee Miller (you're missing out) he's best known for playing Sick Boy in Danny Boyle's cult classic Trainspotting - and most recently played Sherlock Holmes in the TV series Elementary. Here's what else you need to know about the actor...
He was married to Angelina Jolie
JLM married Angelina Jolie in 1996, six months after they met on the set of 90s classic Hackers. He was 22 and she was 20. The only guests in attendance at the wedding were Jolie's mother and one of JLM's mates. The bride notoriously wore a T-shirt with his name written on it — in her own blood.
They eventually divorced in 1999 but apparently remain good friends. Miller appeared in Jolie's directorial debut, In The Land of Blood and Honey in 2011.
Jonny went on to marry actress/model Michele Hicks in 2008 - they divorced a decade later.
He was Jude Law's best man
When Sadie Frost and Jude Law married in 1997, JLM was Jude's best man. The pair are best pals and were in the National Youth Music Theatre together as kids in the 80s.
He dated Kate Moss
Circa 2004 JLM and Mossy were an item. (Interesting fact: it was JLM who first introduced Kate to her BFF Sadie Frost.) He's also dated actress Anna Friel and All Saints' Natalie Appleton.
Oh and he's a Muay Thai champion
JLM is trained in both Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 2019 he made his competitive debut in New York, winning the fight with a knockout in the third round.