Emilia Fox


Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film The Pianist. Her other notable films include the Italian-French-British romance-drama film The Soul Keeper, for which she won the Flaiano Film Award for Best Actress; the drama film The Republic of Love ; the comedy-drama film Things to Do Before You're 30 ; the black comedy Keeping Mum ; the romantic comedy-drama film Cashback ; the drama Flashbacks of a Fool ; the drama film Ways to live Forever ; the drama-thriller A Thousand Kisses Deep ; and the fantasy-horror drama film Dorian Gray.
Fox's television roles include the BBC drama Pride and Prejudice, the PBS British/German television serial Rebecca, ITV Granada's Henry VIII, BBC's Gunpowder, Treason & Plot, the 2005 BBC miniseries The Virgin Queen and the ITV crime drama series Fallen Angel. She also appeared as Morgause in the BBC's Merlin, beginning in the programme's second series. Fox also starred in Delicious. She stars as Dr. Nikki Alexander on 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. Fox has currently played the role of Nikki for 16 years.
In Britain, Fox has performed in plays with high-profile actors such as Les Liaisons Dangereuses with Jared Harris and Coriolanus with Ralph Fiennes.

Personal life

Fox was born in Hammersmith, London. She comes from a thespian family — her mother is actress Joanna David and her father is actor Edward Fox. Her uncle is James Fox and her cousins Jack, Laurence and Lydia also have successful acting careers. She has a brother, Freddie, and a half sister, Lucy. She was educated at the independent Bryanston School in Dorset, where she played the cello, and at St Catherine's College, Oxford, where she read English. 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. Through Hanbury, she is related to the Terry family of actors.
In 2000 Fox was engaged to the comedian Vic Reeves and subsequently dated Toby Mott. In July 2005, she married the British actor Jared Harris, the son of the Irish actor Richard Harris. The couple announced their split in 2008, and Harris filed for divorce in January 2009. The divorce followed the breakdown of their long-distance relationship and her having a miscarriage in 2007.
Fox later entered into a relationship with actor Jeremy Gilley, and in May 2010 it was reported that Fox was pregnant with their child. The Harris-Fox divorce was finalised in June 2010. In November 2010, Fox gave birth to a baby girl named Rose.
Fox is a patron of the environmental and human rights charity the Environmental Justice Foundation. She speaks German and French. She plays the cello, the piano and the trumpet.

Career

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 wealthy 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. 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 2020, she is still in the show and has now played the role of Nikki Alexander for sixteen years. Also in 2004, she played Lady Margaret in Part 2 of Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, the mini-series about James I 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, although in 2016 they divorced.
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 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. Also in 2009, she portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in the Channel 4 documentary The Queen.
She narrated the Doctor Who character Lady Winters in the, The Gunpowder Plot,. She had previously played Bernice in the Eighth Doctor audio drama Nevermore.
In 2015 she appeared as Julia Swetlove in the BBC's dramatisation of J. K. Rowling's book The Casual Vacancy.
In 2016 she appeared in series 2 of The Tunnel as Vanessa Hamilton.
In 2016–18 she has starred as Sam Vincent in Delicious, a Sky television drama. Silent Witness, in which Fox stars, resumed on BBC1 in January 2018.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1995Pride and PrejudiceGeorgiana DarcyTV miniseries
1997RebeccaThe Second Mrs. de WinterTV film
1997Bright HairAnn DevenishTV film
1997'Karoline von EsterhazyTV film
1998BlinkNickiTV short
1998VerdictCharlie MoyesEpisode: "The Doctor's Opinion"
1999'Vanessa RatcliffeTV film
1999Shooting the PastSpigTV film
1999'Minette RolandEpisode: "The Scarlet Pimpernel"
1999David CopperfieldClara CopperfieldTV film
2000Other People's ChildrenDaleEpisode: "1.3"
2000'TV series
2000–2001Randall & HopkirkJeannie11 episodes
2001Bad BloodJackie ShiptonTV film
2002CouplingWilma LettingsEpisode: "Faithless"
Episode: "Unconditional Sex"
2003Helen of TroyCassandra, Princess of TroyTV film
2003Henry VIIIJane SeymourTV film
2004Gunpowder, Treason & PlotLady MargaretTV film
2004–presentSilent WitnessDr. Nikki Alexander156 episodes
2006'Amy DudleyTV miniseries
2006Agatha Christie's Marple: The Moving FingerJoanna BurtonTV film
2006Born EqualLauraTV film
2007Fallen AngelAngel
Rosemary Byfield		Episode: "The Four Last Things"
Episode: "The Judgement of Strangers"
2007Ballet ShoesSylvia BrownTV film
2008Consuming PassionKirstie, a 30-something university English lecturerTV film dramatising Mills and Boon
2008'TV film
2009The QueenQueen Elizabeth IIEpisode: "Sisters"
2009–2011MerlinMorgause11 episodes
2010BookabooHerself, reading a bookEpisode: "The Spider and the Fly"
2012Upstairs DownstairsLady Portia AlresfordEpisode: "A Perfect Specimen of Womanhood"
2012FalcónInesEpisode: "The Blind Man of Seville"
2013The Wrong MansScarlett
2014The SecretsEpisode: "The Lie"
2014Would I Lie to You?HerselfSeries 8, Episode 4
2015The Casual VacancyJulia Sweetlove
2015Herself, contestantSix-part TV series
2016–2018Ant and Dec's Saturday Night TakeawayHerselfTV miniseries
"Who Shot Simon Cowell?"
"The Missing Crown Jewels"
"Saturday Knight Takeaway"
2016Home From HomePenny DillonPilot and BBC One sitcom
2016Kew's Forgotten QueenPresenterBBC Four documentary
2016The TunnelVanessa HamiltonSeries 2
2016–2019DeliciousSam VincentSky1 series
2018Inside No.9NatashaSeries 4 Episode 3 "Once Removed"
2018StrangersSally PorterITV drama
2019The Snow Wolf: A Winter's TaleNarratorBBC Two Drama
2019–2020The Trial of Christine Keeler Valerie ProfumoBBC One series
2019Jack the Ripper - The Case ReopenedPresenterBBC One Documentary
2019Celebrity JuiceHerself, Team CaptainSeries 21, Episode 6
Series 22, Episode 3
2019–2020Celebrity GoggleboxHerselfSeries 1 & Series 2
2020Top GearHerselfSeries 28, Episode 4
2020VE Day: The Lost FilmsHerselfNarrator
2020Richard & Judy: Keep Reading and Carry onHerselfEpisode 5

Theatre