Angelina Jolie's ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller has pulled out of a gruelling 150 mile marathon across the Sahara desert. The British actor was set to run the Marathon des Sables, a seven day straight sprint across desert, for UK charity Mencap. Instead, he will be filming his new movie, the fittingly titled Marathon, in Los Angeles. A source said: "Jonny would have given the event some much-needed publicity so it was a real blow when he cancelled."

A spokesperson for the actor, who shot to fame in cult Scottish movie Trainspotting, said: "Jonny is very disappointed too. He's been doing an awful lot of training for it, but unfortunately he will be in Los Angeles filming at the time."

The actor was formerly married to Jolie who, at their wedding ceremony, donned a pair of leather trousers and wrote his name in her own blood on her bridal blouse.