Emilia Fox

My grandmother, Angela, was the Fox family matriarch. She was magnetic but also wicked. She had this huge life force and was great fun, but she would play each member of the family off against each other, which could make for extremely dramatic Christmases.

People think of me as a privileged young girl born to wear a chiffon party dress. I was born into a big acting family, and although I absolutely adore them, it's taken me time to work out how or where I feel comfortable.

It has taken me a long time to work out the function of ex-boyfriends, at least for me: how they can help you work out what you want from life and from a partner by showing you what you don't. If a man is your ex, it's better all round if he was not Mr. Right.