Actor Ben Miller's life off-screen from unexpected second career to Hollywood ex

19 August 2023 , 07:00

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Inside actor Ben Miller's life off-screen

Ben Miller became a household name thanks to his role in BBC crime drama Death in Paradise, but had to leave the hit show at its prime due to personal reasons.

The actor and comedian, 57, is used to taking risks in his career, having ditched his academic studies at Cambridge for his love of comedy. It paid off for Ben as he went on to star in multiple TV shows with close friend Alexander Armstrong as well as bagging huge roles in movies. He starred alongside Rowan Atkinson as his sidekick Bough in the Johnny English films and as Lord Featherington in the extremely popular period drama Bridgerton.

Away from the screen, Ben has had a colourful life. He was once romantically linked to a Hollywood star, has married twice and has three children. The actor also branched away from performing to follow another passion in his life, where he has successfully launched a second career. He has also got a celebrity lookalike, who Ben once teamed up with for a hilarious stunt. Here's a look at Ben's life off-screen.

Love life

Ben has been married to Jessica Parker since 2013 and they share two children (PA)

Ben dated Rachel Weisz whilst at university together (FilmMagic)

Ben Miller is married to film producer Jessica Parker, who happens to have a famous dad. She is the daughter of musician Alan Parker, who is best known for his work on music for film and TV shows including ITV's News At Ten. The couple wed in 2013 and have been happily married ever since. They welcomed two children together; son Harrison in 2011 and daughter Lana in 2015.

The actor was just starting to further raise his profile as DI Richard Poole in the hit BBC series Death In Paradise, when he quit after two series due to his busy family life. He told The Independent: "When I started the first series, Jess discovered she was pregnant and then Harrison was born in-between series one and two and it was just too much. But that was the only thing I’ve ever quit not for artistic reasons. We had a three-month-old baby and I was on the other side of the world for seven months, which was a lot for us to deal with."

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His marriage to Jessica wasn't the actor's first, however, as he was first married to Belinda Stewart-Wilson, who he met on Primeval and tied the knot with in 2004 before divorcing in 2011. Belinda is widely know for her role as Will's mum Polly McKenzie in the hugely popular comedy The Inbetweeners. They share son Jackson together, who was born in 2006, but divorced five years later in 2011. Another previous love interest was Hollywood actress Rachel Weisz – now married to James Bond star Daniel Craig – who he met at a drama club while studying at Cambridge.

He told The Guardian in 2008: "I went up to this girl once and said 'Happy New Year!' and kissed her, and even though it was February she didn't slap me. In fact, we dated and she was lovely. Rachel Weisz went on to be a Hollywood star and it nourishes the soul to think that good people can still make it."

Second career

While still acting Ben also launched a career as a children's author, releasing a string of successful books including The Night we Got Stuck in a Story and How I Became a Dog Called Midnight. His sixth book The Night We Got Stuck In A Story, featured his own children, Lana and Harrison as the two main characters. They find a hollow tree which becomes the magical conduit for a fantasy world which they explore.

Ben had plenty of time to get stuck into writing during the pandemic as the family were stuck in a villa in Morocco. They had been on holiday just when lockdown first happened, and so were unable to get back to their Gloucestershire home for four months. "Writing has always been my main thing – I started as a comedy writer, then I got bits of acting work which I love doing. Acting is quite a hard thing to combine with parenting because you are often away. Writing is a joy because I’m at home," he told The Independent. While his kids don't watch their dad on TV, they do get to test out his books first.

Celebrity lookalike

Ben has often been mistaken for Welsh actor and comedian Rob Brydon over the years and they both took full advantage of their similar looks back in 2009. The pair appeared alongside each other for an episode of QI and played up to the fact they get mistaken for each other. They wore similar outfits for the episode and even shared an on-screen kiss.

Mia O'Hare