Laurence Fox has been waiting in the wings. Now he’s ready for The Real Thing. Jane McGowan finds him warming to his latest role
Laurence Fox is back. Back on stage and back doing what he does best. The 39-year-old, who shot to fame playing Kevin Whately’s posh sidekick in Morse spin-off Lewis, is starring in Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, which arrives at the Rose Theatre in Kingston this month before embarking on a tour of the UK.
The play tells the story of Henry (Fox), one of the best playwrights of his generation, and his complex professional and romantic life. Henry’s actress wife Charlotte is starring in his play which chronicles the breakdown of a marriage. And when Henry begins an affair with the wife of Charlotte’s co-star, life quickly begins to imitate art.
Though not familiar with this particular Stoppard play, Fox was eager to take on the complex leading role.
“I’ve read his work before, but I’ve never performed it,” he says. “It’s very challenging, but once you know it, it carries you. I was drawn to Henry because of his complexity, his great intelligence and the journey that he goes through. It’s a monster of a part and a great challenge.”
Born in Yorkshire in 1978, the third of five children, Laurence is part of the Fox theatrical dynasty: his father is actor James (The Remains of the Day), while his uncle is The Day of the Jackal star Edward and his cousins include Emilia (Silent Witness) and Freddie (The Riot Club). However, the young Laurence didn’t initially opt to join the family firm.
“For a long time I wasn’t an actor, but a gardener. I auditioned for drama school and didn’t get in, and that annoyed me, so I decided that I would just keep trying.Things went from there.”
With three years at RADA under his belt, Fox soon landed a part in acclaimed movie Gosford Park, which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Further roles followed, on both stage and screen, before the young actor was cast asDS Hathaway in Lewis. But after nine years in the much-loved police drama, he quit to focus on his first love: music. His self-penned debut album, Holding Patterns, was released in early 2016 and Fox hit the road with his band, touring the UK and Ireland.
“I do find it harder to perform on stage as myself,” he admits. “Much harder. It’s just yourself and your thoughts, and my music is, let’s say, quite to the point!”
The Real Thing marks Fox’s return to theatre following his very public split from award-winning actress Billie Piper. The couple, who met while working on West End play Treats in 2007, have two sons together and Fox has spoken quite openly about the break-up, telling Daily Mirror reporter Sharon Feinstein that the divorce “hit me hard”, and that it had “derailed” him.
Now he’s back on track, learning lines and hanging out in the rehearsal room.
“In a way I find theatre more challenging and interesting than TV. It’s where actors get to do their acting. Many actors don’t even get the chance to act, so I’m grateful for every day that I do.”
- The Real Thing is at the Rose Theatre, Kingston from Oct 3-14 (rosetheatrekingston.org) and at the Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford from Nov 6-11 (yvonne-arnaud.co.uk)
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