# Emilia Fox

Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (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

Emilia Fox was born in Hammersmith, London. 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. She has a brother, Freddie (also an actor), and a half-sister, Lucy. 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. 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.

## 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 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 2025, she is still in the show and has now played the role of Nikki Alexander for twenty-one 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). She had previously played Berenice 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. 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. In 2021, 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.

## Personal life

In 2000, Fox was engaged to comedian Vic Reeves; she subsequently dated Toby Mott.
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. The divorce followed the breakdown of their long-distance relationship and her 2007 miscarriage.
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. In November 2010, Fox gave birth to a daughter. Fox and Gilley split up in 2011.
She dated chef Marco Pierre White from 2012 to 2016 and Luc Chaudhary from 2019 to 2020. She is currently in a relationship with TV producer Jonathan Stadlen.
Fox is a patron of the drug, alcohol, and gambling addiction charity DrugFam.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | The Rat Trap | Pippa | Short film |
| 2000 | The Magic of Vincent | Gina | Short film |
| 2002 | The Pianist | Dorota | |
| 2002 | Hideous Man | Girl on swing | Short film |
| 2002 | The Soul Keeper | Sabina Spielrein | |
| 2003 | Three Blind Mice | Claire Bligh | |
| 2003 | The Republic of Love | Fay | |
| 2004 | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Lynne Frederick (uncredited) | |
| 2004 | Cashback | Sharon | Short film later expanded into a full-length feature film |
| 2005 | Things to Do Before You're 30 | Kate | |
| 2005 | The Tiger and the Snow | Nancy Browning | |
| 2005 | Keeping Mum | Rosie Jones | |
| 2006 | Free Jimmy | Bettina | Voice (English version) |
| 2006 | 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 |
| 2010 | Ways to Live Forever | Amanda McQueen (Mum) | |
| 2011 | A Thousand Kisses Deep | Doris | |
| 2013 | Suspension of Disbelief | Claire Jones | |
| 2013 | 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

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Pride and Prejudice | Georgiana Darcy | TV miniseries |
| 1997 | Rebecca | The Second Mrs. de Winter | TV film |
| 1997 | Bright Hair | Ann Devenish | TV film |
| 1997 | The Temptation of Franz Schubert | Karoline von Esterhazy | TV film |
| 1998 | The Round Tower | Vanessa Ratcliffe | TV serial |
| 1998 | Blink | Nicki | TV short |
| 1998 | Verdict | Charlie Moyes | Episode: "The Doctor's Opinion" |
| 1999 | The Round Tower | Vanessa Ratcliffe | TV film |
| 1999 | Shooting the Past | Spig | TV film |
| 1999 | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Minette Roland | Episode: "The Scarlet Pimpernel" |
| 1999 | David Copperfield | Clara Copperfield | TV film |
| 2000 | Other People's Children | Dale | Episode: "1.3" |
| 2000 | 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 |
| 2003 | 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 |
| 2006 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Joanna Burton | Episode: "The Moving Finger" |
| 2006 | Born Equal | Laura | TV film |
| 2007 | Fallen Angel | Angel Rosemary Byfield | Episode: "The Four Last Things" Episode: "The Judgement of Strangers" |
| 2007 | 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 |
| 2008 | 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" |
| 2012 | Falcón | Ines | Episode: "The Blind Man of Seville" |
| 2013 | The Wrong Mans | Scarlett | |
| 2014 | The Secrets | | Episode: "The Lie" |
| 2014 | Would I Lie to You? | Herself | Series 8, Episode 4 |
| 2015 | The Casual Vacancy | Julia Sweetlove | |
| 2015 | Bear Grylls: Mission Survive | Herself, contestant | Six-part TV series |
| 2016 | Home From Home | Penny Dillon | Pilot and BBC One sitcom |
| 2016 | Kew's Forgotten Queen | Presenter | BBC Four documentary |
| 2016 | The Tunnel | Vanessa Hamilton | Series 2 |
| 2016–2019 | Delicious | Sam Vincent | Sky1 series |
| 2016–2018, 2021 | Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway | Herself | 11 episodes |
| 2018 | Inside No. 9 | Natasha | Series 4 Episode 3 "Once Removed" |
| 2018 | Strangers | Sally Porter | ITV drama |
| 2019 | The Snow Wolf: A Winter's Tale | Narrator | BBC Two Drama |
| 2019 | Jack the Ripper – The Case Reopened | Presenter | BBC One Documentary |
| 2019 | 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 |
| 2019–2020 | Celebrity Gogglebox | Herself | Series 1 (With Laurence Fox) & Series 2 (With Joanna David) |
| 2020 | Top Gear | Herself | Series 28, Episode 4 |
| 2020 | VE Day: The Lost Films | Herself | Narrator |
| 2020 | Richard & Judy: Keep Reading and Carry on | Herself | Episode 5 |
| 2020 | Blankety Blank | Herself | Episode: "Christmas Special" |
| 2021 | Saturday Knight Takeaway | Herself | TV Short |
| 2021 | Paul Sinha's TV Showdown | Herself | Contestant – ITV |
| 2021 | Between the Covers | Herself | BBC2 |
| 2021–present | In the Footsteps of Killers | Herself | |
| 2022 | Murdertown | Herself | Crime & Investigation |
| 2022 | Royal Institution Christmas Lectures | Herself | Dame Sue Black: 1. Dead Body |
| 2022–present | Signora Volpe | Sylvia Fox | Acorn TV / AMC series |

## Theatre

| 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 |
| 2000 | 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 |