The Crown: Trainspotting's Jonny Lee Miller to play Sir John Major

Jonny Lee Miller, who rose to fame as a heroin addict in hit 1996 film Trainspotting, is to depict a very different side of 1990s life after being cast as former PM Sir John Major.

Miller played Sick Boy in Danny Boyle's film based on Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel about a group of Edinburgh junkies.

Sir John was in 10 Downing Street when both the book and movie came out.

Miller will now transform into the politician for the fifth series of Netflix's regal drama The Crown.

The actor is also known for TV shows including Elementary, Emma and Dexter, and revisited his Trainspotting role for 2017 sequel T2.

Sir John Major was UK prime minister from 1990-97, succeeding Margaret Thatcher as leader of the Conservative government.

The original book and film depicted a seedy but intoxicating side to Britain that was a world away from Sir John's unexciting image.

The Crown has followed the Royal Family's public, private and political dramas from the 1950s.

The fifth series, which is reported to start filming in July, will take in perhaps the royals' most difficult decade, with a string of splits and scandals, the Windsor Castle fire and the death of Princess Diana.

Imelda Staunton will take over from Olivia Colman as the Queen, with Jonathan Pryce playing Prince Philip. Elizabeth Debicki will play Diana, opposite Dominic West as Prince Charles.

Gillian Anderson won a Golden Globe earlier this year for playing Mr Major's predecessor as prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

The show's sixth and final series will also take in part of the 90s and will conclude in the early 2000s.

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