Emilia Fox plays a social media-phobe in new Hampstead Theatre play – but in real life says it is 'amazing'

Emilia Fox plays a stranger to social media in her new role, but says that away from the stage she finds it an “amazing” way to communicate with her audience.

In Sex With Strangers, the Silent Witness star is a largely unnoticed novelist trapped in a snowed-in house with a blogger who shares his life online with millions.

The actress, 42, said it would be “naive” to think social media was positive for everyone but her experience had been “lovely”. She added: “I was introduced to it with Twitter and Instagram and you think, ‘Why am I doing this?’ because I’m the sort of person who considers their life to be quite private. But I can see the benefits and I think it is amazing professionally to be able to communicate with people you wouldn’t otherwise be able to speak to.”

Fox says her co-star in the comedy — Theo James, 32 — showed her a different side to the story: “At first I thought it was about a difference of opinion between the sexes and in the generations about … changing times in relationships and technology and social media.

“But as soon as we did the read-through, I realised it is actually a love story and that took it to a whole other level because you want to see whether the relationship can work between these two”.

Sex with Strangers, Hampstead Theatre, from January 27 to March 4.

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