Jonny Lee Miller - Jonny Lee Miller Reached Out To Benedict Cumberbatch Over Rival Sherlock Holmes Series

Cumberbatch has been starring as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous London sleuth in the Bbc programme Sherlock since 2010, and Miller found himself following in his friend's footsteps when he was announced as the main character in Elementary, a modern take on the fictional investigator, earlier this year (12).

The Trainspotting actor admits he was already a big fan of Cumberbatch's portrayal and would often dissect the latest episode of Sherlock with his friend over the phone, but Miller insists his version of Holmes will be completely different, particularly as it will be set in New York.

Miller tells WENN, "I love the work that Benedict has done with Sherlock. So I would call him up like a groupie after every episode came out and want to talk to him about it. And we had a discussion about this project as well. It was a private discussion. Benedict has been very, very supportive, and, you know, I wanted to reassure him about how different this script was and project was. All of the other differences will kind of be apparent. That's another country and a whole lot of vibe."

And the Brit, who was briefly married to Angelina Jolie, has been busy doing his own extensive research into the role: "Playing Sherlock is not like a boyhood thing for me. I have discovered this character myself by reading... I've almost finished all of the literature. I haven't quite finished it all yet, but for me to discover that has been a real wonderful thing and to have that vast reservoir of information and research available to you - by just a terrific writer. But it's a challenge, you know?"

However, Miller admits he's feeling the pressure to do the character justice: "There's different versions of it out there, recently, and so it's an extra bit of pressure, but it's a fantastic character, and opportunities like this don't come along as often as people might think for us. So it's wonderful."

Miller and Cumberbatch bonded while starring on the West End stage in director Danny Boyle's Frankenstein last year (11).