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Emilia Fox

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Emilia Fox
Fox in 2011
Born
Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox

(1974-07-31) 31 July 1974 (age 50)[1]
Hammersmith, London, England
Alma materSt Catherine's College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Actress and presenter
Years active1995–present
Television
Spouses
​
​
(m. 2005; div. 2010)​
  • Jonathan Stadlen
PartnerJeremy Gilley (2009–2011)
Children1
Parents
FamilyFox
AwardsFlaiano Prizes Best Actress
2003 The Soul Keeper

Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox[2] (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose career is primarily in British television. Her feature film debut was in Roman Polanski's film The Pianist (2002). Her other motion pictures include the Italian–French–British romance-drama The Soul Keeper (2002), for which she won the Flaiano Film Award for Best Actress; the drama The Republic of Love (2003); the comedy-drama Things to Do Before You're 30 (2005); the black comedy Keeping Mum (2005); the romantic comedy-drama Cashback (2006); the drama Flashbacks of a Fool (2008); the drama Ways to Live Forever (2010); the drama-thriller A Thousand Kisses Deep (2011); and the fantasy-horror drama Dorian Gray (2009).

Fox's television roles include the BBC drama Pride and Prejudice (1995), the PBS British/German television serial Rebecca (1997), ITV Granada's Henry VIII (2003), BBC's Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004), the 2005 BBC miniseries The Virgin Queen (2005) and the ITV crime drama series Fallen Angel (2007). She also appeared as Morgause in the BBC's Merlin, beginning in the programme's second series. Fox also starred in Delicious (2016). She stars as Dr. Nikki Alexander on the BBC crime drama Silent Witness, having joined the cast in 2004 following the departure of Amanda Burton. Fox is the longest-serving cast member since the departures of Tom Ward in 2012 and William Gaminara in 2013. Since 2022 she has had the title role of her namesake Sylvia Fox in the Acorn TV series Signora Volpe.

Early life

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Emilia Fox was born in Hammersmith, London.[1] She comes from a thespian family – her mother is actress Joanna David (née Joanna Elizabeth Hacking) and her father is actor Edward Fox; her uncle James Fox and her cousins Jack, Laurence and Lydia are also actors.[3] She has a brother, Freddie (also an actor), and a half-sister, Lucy.[2] She was educated at the independent Bryanston School near Blandford Forum, Dorset, where she played the cello, and at St Catherine's College, Oxford, where she read English.[4][5] Her great-great-grandfather was Samson Fox, a self-made millionaire, and her great-grandmother was the actress Hilda Hanbury, sister of Lily Hanbury. Her grandfather was Robin Fox, a theatrical agent.[6] Through Hanbury, she is related to the Terry family of actors.[7]

Career

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Fox first appeared as Georgiana, the sister of Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy, in the 1995 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, followed by her role as the second Mrs. de Winter in the 1997 television adaptation of Rebecca, opposite Charles Dance. In 1998 she starred with Ben Miles in the adaptation of Catherine Cookson's The Round Tower as the young Vanessa Radcliffe, a girl from an affluent family who is forced to leave her home after becoming pregnant. Fox played Jeannie Hurst in the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk.

In 2002, she starred in The Pianist as Dorota, a beautiful, blond, non-Jewish cellist who adores the playing of the Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman (played by Adrien Brody). The film was directed by Roman Polanski. In 2003, she played Jane Seymour in a two-part television biographical film about King Henry VIII. She also played the title role in Katherine Howard, directed by Robin Lefevre at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1998.

In 2004, she joined the cast of the crime drama, Silent Witness. As of 2023, she is still in the show and has now played the role of Nikki Alexander for nineteen years. 2004 also saw her play Lady Margaret in Part 2 of Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, the mini-series about James I (James VI in Scotland) and the Gunpowder Plot. In 2005, Fox appeared in the BBC miniseries The Virgin Queen, a four-part miniseries based upon the life of Queen Elizabeth I, Fox played Amy Dudley, the first wife of Robert Dudley, played by Tom Hardy, despite appearing in only one episode, her character remains a key character in the series. In 2008, she played Sister Jean in Baillie Walsh's Flashbacks of a Fool, which also featured Daniel Craig. She also starred in Things To Do Before You're 30 with Billie Piper, who would later marry her first cousin Laurence Fox; they divorced in 2016.

She was cast as Lynne Frederick in the 2004 film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, which starred Geoffrey Rush in the lead role. A whole section of the film focusing on the Frederick/Sellers relationship was removed in the final edit, although she can be seen briefly in a background shot towards the end of the film. The deleted scenes with Fox can be found among the special features on the DVD release of the film.

In 2007, Fox was reunited with her Rebecca co-star Charles Dance when they starred together in the ITV1 mini-series Fallen Angel, Fox played a serial killer, Rosie Byfield, with Dance appearing as her father. The rewind format in which the show was shot traced the development of the killer streak of Fox's character. Fox and Dance had previously both appeared in ITV1's Henry VIII, but Dance's role as the Duke of Buckingham was limited, as his character was arrested for treason less than fifteen minutes into the first half, while Fox's scenes as the doomed third Queen Jane Seymour dominated the first half of the second episode. In the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film Free Jimmy, Fox voiced the character of "Bettina". The dialogue was written by Simon Pegg; other actors included Pegg himself and Woody Harrelson. Emilia Fox narrates the popular children's book We're Going on a Bear Hunt (by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury) with Kevin Whately in a special edition book and DVD set. She appeared as Morgause in the second series of BBC's Merlin in 2009. She returned for the third and fourth series. The same year, she portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in the Channel 4 documentary The Queen.

She narrated the Doctor Who character Lady Winters in the Doctor Who Adventure Game, The Gunpowder Plot, (2011).[8] She had previously played Berenice in the Eighth Doctor audio drama Nevermore.[9]

In 2015, she appeared as Julia Swetlove in the BBC's dramatisation of J. K. Rowling's book The Casual Vacancy. The following year, she appeared in series 2 of The Tunnel as Vanessa Hamilton. In 2016–18 she starred as Sam Vincent in Delicious, a Sky television drama. Silent Witness, in which Fox stars, resumed on BBC1 in January 2018.

In 2019, Fox co-presented the BBC documentary Jack the Ripper – The Case Reopened, alongside criminologist David Wilson.[10] In 2021,[11] Fox and Wilson teamed up to present a full series of documentaries looking at cold cases, titled In the Footsteps of Killers. The second series aired in January 2023.[12]

Personal life

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In 2000, Fox was engaged to comedian Vic Reeves; she subsequently dated Toby Mott.[13][14]

In July 2005, she married British actor Jared Harris, the son of Irish actor Richard Harris. The couple announced their separation in 2008, and Harris filed for divorce in January 2009.[15] The divorce followed the breakdown of their long-distance relationship and her 2007 miscarriage.[16]

Following her separation from Harris, Fox began a relationship with actor Jeremy Gilley, and in May 2010 it was reported that Fox was pregnant with their child.[17] In November 2010, Fox gave birth to a daughter.[18] Fox and Gilley split up in 2011.[19]

She dated chef Marco Pierre White from 2012 to 2016 and Luc Chaudhary from 2019 to 2020.[19] She is currently in a relationship with TV producer Jonathan Stadlen.[20]

Fox is a patron of the drug, alcohol, and gambling addiction charity DrugFam.[21]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1999 The Rat Trap Pippa Short film
2000 The Magic of Vincent Gina Short film
2002 The Pianist Dorota
Hideous Man Girl on swing Short film
The Soul Keeper Sabina Spielrein
2003 Three Blind Mice Claire Bligh
The Republic of Love Fay
2004 The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Lynne Frederick (uncredited)
Cashback Sharon Short film later expanded into a full-length feature film
2005 Things to Do Before You're 30 Kate
The Tiger and the Snow Nancy Browning
Keeping Mum Rosie Jones
2006 Free Jimmy Bettina Voice (English version)
Cashback Sharon Pintey
2007 Honeymoon Dawn Short film
2008 Flashbacks of a Fool Sister Jean
2009 Dorian Gray Lady Victoria Wotton
2010 The Man Who Married Himself Sarah Short film
Ways to Live Forever Amanda McQueen (Mum)
2011 A Thousand Kisses Deep Doris
2013 Suspension of Disbelief Claire Jones
Not Ever Emily Short Film
2014 The Devil's Harvest Nadya
2016 The Carer Sophia
2017 Mum's List Kate Greene
2021 Blithe Spirit Violet Bradman
2022 The Beachcombers Narrator Short film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1995 Pride and Prejudice Georgiana Darcy TV miniseries
1997 Rebecca The Second Mrs. de Winter TV film
Bright Hair Ann Devenish TV film
The Temptation of Franz Schubert Karoline von Esterhazy TV film
1998 The Round Tower Vanessa Ratcliffe TV serial
Blink Nicki TV short
Verdict Charlie Moyes Episode: "The Doctor's Opinion"
1999 The Round Tower Vanessa Ratcliffe TV film
Shooting the Past Spig TV film
The Scarlet Pimpernel Minette Roland Episode: "The Scarlet Pimpernel"
David Copperfield Clara Copperfield TV film
2000 Other People's Children Dale Episode: "1.3"
The Wrong Side of the Rainbow TV series
2000–2001 Randall & Hopkirk Jeannie 11 episodes
2001 Bad Blood Jackie Shipton TV film
2002 Coupling Wilma Lettings Episode: "Faithless"
Episode: "Unconditional Sex"
2003 Helen of Troy Cassandra, Princess of Troy TV film
Henry VIII Jane Seymour TV film
2004 Gunpowder, Treason & Plot Lady Margaret TV film
2004–present Silent Witness Dr. Nikki Alexander 156 episodes
2006 The Virgin Queen Amy Dudley TV miniseries
Agatha Christie's Marple Joanna Burton Episode: "The Moving Finger"
Born Equal Laura TV film
2007 Fallen Angel Angel
Rosemary Byfield 		Episode: "The Four Last Things"
Episode: "The Judgement of Strangers"
Ballet Shoes Sylvia Brown TV film
2008 Consuming Passion: 100 Years of Mills & Boon Kirstie, a 30-something university English lecturer TV film dramatising Mills and Boon
The Game's Up TV film
2009 The Queen Queen Elizabeth II Episode: "Sisters"
2009–2011 Merlin Morgause 11 episodes
2010 Bookaboo Herself, reading a book Episode: "The Spider and the Fly"
2012 Upstairs Downstairs Lady Portia Alresford Episode: "A Perfect Specimen of Womanhood"
Falcón Ines Episode: "The Blind Man of Seville"
2013 The Wrong Mans Scarlett
2014 The Secrets Episode: "The Lie"
Would I Lie to You? Herself Series 8, Episode 4
2015 The Casual Vacancy Julia Sweetlove
Bear Grylls: Mission Survive Herself, contestant Six-part TV series
2016 Home From Home Penny Dillon Pilot and BBC One sitcom
Kew's Forgotten Queen Presenter BBC Four documentary
The Tunnel Vanessa Hamilton Series 2
2016–2019 Delicious Sam Vincent Sky1 series
2016–2018,
2021 		Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway[22] Herself 11 episodes
2018 Inside No. 9 Natasha Series 4 Episode 3 "Once Removed"
Strangers Sally Porter ITV drama
2019 The Snow Wolf: A Winter's Tale Narrator BBC Two Drama
Jack the Ripper – The Case Reopened Presenter BBC One Documentary
Celebrity Juice Herself, Team Captain Series 21, Episode 6
Series 22, Episode 3
2019–2020 The Trial of Christine Keeler Valerie Profumo BBC One series
Celebrity Gogglebox Herself Series 1 (With Laurence Fox) & Series 2 (With Joanna David)
2020 Top Gear Herself Series 28, Episode 4
VE Day: The Lost Films Herself Narrator
Richard & Judy: Keep Reading and Carry on Herself Episode 5
Blankety Blank Herself Episode: "Christmas Special"
2021 Saturday Knight Takeaway Herself TV Short
Paul Sinha's TV Showdown Herself Contestant – ITV
Between the Covers Herself BBC2
2021–present In the Footsteps of Killers Herself
2022 Murdertown Herself Crime & Investigation
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Herself Dame Sue Black: 1. Dead Body
2022–present Signora Volpe Sylvia Fox Acorn TV / AMC series

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
1996–1997 The Cherry Orchard Anya Royal Shakespeare Company
1998 Katherine Howard Katherine Howard Chichester Festival Theatre
1999 Good Donmar Warehouse
2000 Richard II Queen Isabel Almeida Theatre
Coriolanus Virgilia Almeida Theatre
2003–2004 Les Liaisons dangereuses Madame de Tourvel Playhouse Theatre
2014 Rapture, Blister, Burn Catherine Hampstead Theatre
2017 Sex with Strangers Olivia Hampstead Theatre

References

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  1. ^ a b "Emilia Fox: A long line of theatrical ancestors..." The Genealogist. 20 September 2011. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b Barratt, Nick (26 May 2007). "Family Detective". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  3. ^ The Observer Review, p. 2, 1 February 2009.
  4. ^ Cadwalladr, Carole (19 March 2008). "It's the clever way to power – part 2". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Women at Oxford". University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Emilia Fox". The Genealogist. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  7. ^ Who Do You Think You Are?, BBC TV series, episode with Emilia Fox, first broadcast September 2011
  8. ^ "The Gunpowder Plot: More Stars, More Monsters!". BBC. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  9. ^ "Doctor Who: Nevermore". Big Finish Productions. Archived from the original on 30 October 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  10. ^ Yeates, Cydney (26 March 2019). "Emilia Fox unmasks key Jack The Ripper suspect in new documentary: 'It was the right conclusion'". Metro. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  11. ^ Singh, Anita (9 June 2021). "In the Footsteps of Killers, review: how did this staggeringly ill-judged show ever get made?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  12. ^ McDonald, Sally (2 January 2023). "'It is all about hope, a hope for answers, a hope for justice': Silent Witness star Emilia Fox on seeking the truth for real-life victims". Sunday Post. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Interview: Emilia Fox". The Mirror. 11 March 2000. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Emilia Fox Profile". alibi. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  15. ^ "The Curious Benjamin Button Divorce". TMZ. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Fox Sought Therapy After Miscarriage". contactmusic.com. 9 June 2009. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Emilia Fox is pregnant less than two years after divorce". The Daily Telegraph. London. 29 May 2010. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  18. ^ Walker, Tim (25 March 2011). "Actress Emilia Fox takes her cub to work". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  19. ^ a b Storey, Katie (25 October 2020). "Emilia Fox confirms she split from fiancé Luc Chaudhary five months ago". Metro. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  20. ^ Power, Vicki (1 January 2023). "Sunday with Emilia Fox: 'Rowing on the Thames with my daughter and all the dogs'". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  21. ^ "DrugFam Patrons". Drug Fam. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  22. ^ Lee, Ben (30 January 2017). "Ant & Dec will unravel another mystery in Saturday Night Takeaway's 'Missing Crown Jewels'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
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