Starring in Deli dressed up for a
SHE MAY be a high-profile actress from a notable thespian family but Emilia Fox is as down-to-earth and friendly as they come. If you expected a prima donna, you would be most disappointed.
The daughter of actors Joanna David and Edward Fox, Emilia, 44, is most famous for her ongoing role as the cool, unflappable Dr Nikki Alexander in Silent Witness on BBC One. She is also a single mother to her eight-year-old daughter Rose, juggling her busy career and home life.
But you need only spend five minutes in her company to realise that twice-divorced Emilia is extremely capable and undoubtedly in control, exuding a steely determination.
Not content to rest on her success in Silent Witness, one of the biggest dramas on the BBC, she has also been enjoying acclaim for a very different role as Sam Vincent in Sky One’s returning series Delicious, which co-stars comedian Dawn French as her business partner Gina at the Penrose Hotel in Cornwall.
This lush drama, starting its third series, has a wicked thread of dark comedy running through it and is awash with wonderful scenery, expensive cars, lavish gardens and amazing food. Do not watch Delicious while hungry because visually it’s like the food section in a lifestyle magazine.
The third season begins with a lavish banquet as actor Vincent Regan (Troy, Strike Back) takes on the role of rich investor Mason Elliott, a famous chef and restaurateur, who swoops into the Penrose Hotel with more than business on his mind. Just who is this celebrity chef based upon? Take your pick.
But his good looks and charm appear to have got him as far as his talent. Regan himself says he’s there to “shake up the dynamic for this series” and he succeeds in the very first episode.
He is joined by Sheila Hancock as Mimi Vincent, Iain Glen as the late Leo Vincent, and Dean Andrews in what is an exceptional cast.
“It’s definitely the most glamorous series I’ve been in,” Emilia tells me in a central London hotel. “Whether you’re talking about the food, the locations or clothes. It really is a lovely one to be in. But this series is quite different to the others because in the first series there was quite a lot of tragedy, certainly for Sam because of what happened to her husband.”
LEO HAD an affair with his ex-wife Gina and when he died, it was Gina who inherited his worldly goods, not Sam. “I remember doing the press and thinking my character is in a whole different drama. Each one has had slightly different tones.”
But she feels that this third series has a “seize the day” feel to it. “I loved that when I read it. Sam wants it now, she’s ready for it and such care has been taken in the series so that feels quite true. You can’t just jump from one series to another – my husband died, all those awful things happen – to ‘Everything’s all right now’.”
Emilia says she feels a sense of familiarity with her character. “It’s literally like putting on your favourite shoes again, shoes that you haven’t had a chance to wear, and I say that very specifically for Sam because a lot of what she wears defines her.
“It feels reassuring and comfortable because you know you’ve chosen a good pair of shoes to wear but you will be going to a different destination with them.”
We discuss how women are at the “heart of the series” in terms of plot, characters, TV executives, writers and crew. Emilia is extremely proud to be part of it. “There are four female characters of four different ages, experiencing very different things.” And this includes comedian, writer and actress Dawn French.
“Our relationship is encapsulated by this: we start talking at about 6am in the morning and
then we don’t stop talking until eigh the evening when we go home, and we talk on the phone in the car! She Cornwall and I don’t see her for so l it’s like an annual catch-up because much to talk about.
“She brings everyone together on is really invigorating to be with and laughing as you would expect. Our r is not dissimilar to that of the chara Delicious.”
And then there’s the food. Emilia have to be quite careful on the set, e bits here and there, and then when a scene, we’re like gannets. And we take food home which is great.”
She adds: “I hope foodies are fans because a lot of effort is put into it. in it, it’s like getting dressed up for every day.”
It may be a drama, led and made but the gender pay gap at the BBC as ever. Emilia earns between £200, on the latest series of Silent Witnes