Jonny Lee Miller said it would be “ridiculous” to complain about being compared to Benedict Cumberbatch over their portrayals of Sherlock Holmes.
The British actor plays the famous fictional detective on Sky series Elementary opposite Lucy Liu as Dr Joan Watson, in a contemporary take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters.
Jonny, 44, insisted there was no rivalry between his show and the BBC series Sherlock, which stars Benedict in the title role.
He told the Press Association: “I think (Benedict) is fabulous. I think it’s a fabulous show.
“Neither of us are the first person to play Sherlock Holmes. It would be ridiculous to be tired (of comparisons).
“I think we do widely different shows. Why would I be tired of comparisons with other incarnations?
“I think the original stories are so good, they can afford many different incarnations – like Robin Hood.”
Jonny’s Elementary co-star Lucy said used to watch Sherlock before Elementary began airing and enjoyed the relationship between Benedict and Martin Freeman, who plays Dr Watson on the BBC series.
“I love their dynamic,” she said.
“I love their chemistry. I liked seeing something that was based in London.
“But that was a time before our show actually came on. It’s nice to know they can be living in parallel universes and still be successful on their own.”
Jonny, who is starring in his fifth series of Elementary, said he did not predict the success of the show when he was first cast.
“I think we knew we were doing something fairly interesting and fairly different but you don’t really expect any success in this business,” he said.
“You have to go out there and try and make an honest piece of work.”
The new series of Elementary airs on Sky Living on Tuesday, December 13 at 9pm.
