The Real Reason Angelina Jolie Divorced Her First Husband, Jonny Lee Miller
Even by celebrity standards, Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie and Sick Boy from "Trainspotting" were a weird match. British actor Jonnny Lee Miller was actually Jolie's first husband, with the unlikely duo initially meeting when they starred in 1995 movie "Hackers" together. As InStyle notes, before you could say "whirlwind romance" Jolie and Miller had tied the knot just six months after hooking up. With only her mother and one of his friends there to witness the blessed event, she reportedly wore some fashionable leather pants and a T-shirt with his name scrawled on it in Jolie's own blood.
They were very young, Jolie 20 and Miller 22, and reportedly proposed to each other. Although there was some talk about a lengthy engagement, particularly considering the couple was about to be separated by work commitments, they quickly settled on a faster ceremony instead. The showbiz couple understandably courted quite a bit of press during their year-long marriage, ultimately filing for divorce in 1999. Jolie went on to marry Billy Bob Thornton and Brad Pitt, while Miller married Michele Hicks in 2008. They remain on really great terms. So, where did it all go wrong for these two crazy kids?
It was a surprisingly amicable split
As The Mirror notes, although Jonny Lee Miller relocated to LA to build a home with his new wife, Angelina Jolie, settling down didn't suit the eccentric actress. "You're suddenly somebody's wife. And you're like, 'Oh, I'm half of a couple now. I've lost me,'" she confessed at the time. When they split, Miller moved back to London and that was that. Jolie took responsibility for the dissolution of their relationship, acknowledging in an interview with the Calgary Sun that she struggled to be "present enough, physically or emotionally, in relationships to get serious." The Oscar-winning actress admitted to being a workaholic, which doesn't leave much time for the other person. However, Jolie also made it clear, "Jonny and I never fought and we never hurt each other. I really wanted to be his wife. I really wanted to commit."
The actress even expressed a desire to get back together further down the line. "There are no regrets and no bitterness," Miller advised at the time, according to Heavy. The "Trainspotting" star added, "Marriage was something that didn't work out, and I had to make the decision sooner or later. I decided to make it sooner." He confirmed they were still friends in a 2017 interview with the Brampton Guardian, while Jolie told Hello! magazine there was nothing but love between them. They had a play date with their children in May 2021, inspiring reconciliation rumors, but People confirmed there was nothing romantic going on.