Jonny Lee Miller Joining ‘The Crown’ Cast as Prime Minister John Major

The Crown Season 5 just cast a ’90s icon as one of the decade’s most influential British leaders. Jonny Lee Miller will play Prime Minister John Major in The Crown. John Major followed Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservative Party and was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1997. Miller will join the likes of Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, and Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown Season 5 on Netflix.

The Crown is Netflix’s lavish dramatic interpretation of the private lives of England’s Royal Family. Since it premiered in 2016, The Crown has focused on the events of one decade per season. Claire Foy and Matt Smith played the young Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip before later passing the batons to Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies for Seasons 3 and 4. Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce will take over those parts in The Crown Season 5.

One of the key parts of The Crown dwells on the complex relationships the Queen has had with her various Prime Ministers over the years. John Lithgow played the imposing icon Winston Churchill in early seasons while Gillian Anderson received kudos for playing the “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher in The Crown Season 4. Jonny Lee Miller will take over as the new Prime Minister, John Major, in The Crown Season 5. (And Fleabag star Andrew Scott has been rumored to be cast as Major’s successor Tony Blair.)

Jonny Lee Miller first came to fame in a string of ’90s cult hits like Trainspotting and Hackers, where he met his one-time wife and still-pal Angelina Jolie. In recent years, he’s distinguished himself as a celebrated theater actor and a modern Sherlock Holmes on CBS’s procedural Elementary.

The Crown Season 5 will go into production in July 2021 and will cover the tumultuous 1990s. Elizabeth Debicki has been confirmed to play Princess Diana during this heartbreaking time.

Watch The Crown on Netflix