Laurence Fox

At the age of 13 he entered Harrow School where, according to him, he was "shy around women, sensitive and a bit naive". Although he made friends and liked the drama teacher, he hated the school's strict regime and felt despised and out of place among pupils with titles and wealth. Constantly in trouble for smoking, fighting, going into town and seeing girls, he was eventually expelled a few weeks before his A-levels. According to him, "It was something to do with a girl at a dance. I went back to take the exams, but I wasn't allowed to speak to anyone." In hindsight, Fox has said that his experience at Harrow enabled him to portray "toffs" – the upper class boys looking down on him and whom he disliked – with much insight and cynicism.

Despite doing well in his A-level examinations, because of the report that Harrow had written on him, he was unable to obtain a place at any university. After working as a gardener for two years, and a stint as an office worker which he loathed, he discovered that he enjoyed acting and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). During his time there he appeared in numerous theatre productions, including the lead roles of Gregers Werle in Ibsen's The Wild Duck, Marcus Andronicus in Titus Andronicus, and Stephen Daedalus in an adaptation of James Joyce's novel Ulysses. Read Less