Jack Fox described acting opposite his father James as “the best experience of my life” after they appeared on the West End stage together for the first time.
Jack, 29, and James, 76, are starring in Dear Lupin, based on letters sent by the late journalist and author Roger Mortimer to his wayward son Charlie.
Charlie was in the audience at the Apollo Theatre alongside celebrities and members of the Fox acting dynasty. They included James’s brother Edward, 78, and Jack’s brothers Robin and Laurence. The latter was accompanied by his wife, Billie Piper.
At the after-show reception, held at the Ham Yard Hotel near Piccadilly Circus, Jack said: “It’s been the best experience I have had in my life.”
Dear Lupin press night
On his relationship with his father, he said: “I think I was fortunate enough, in the same way that Charlie was fortunate, to have someone that cared about them unconditionally. I don’t think Charlie would be the man he is without Roger, and I don’t think I would be the man I am without my dad.”
James, star of films including A Passage To India and The Remains Of The Day, added: “It will be a great memory when this is all finished — I don’t think we will ever get over it.”
The pair said the show’s producers had “taken a punt” on them to play the roles, although relatively inexperienced Jack — who had a recurring role as ex-public schoolboy Ralph in Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat — insisted it was him they had gambled on rather than his father.
The play is based on the bestselling book, Dear Lupin: Letters To A Wayward Son, a collection of letters sent over 25 years by Mortimer to his son, beginning when Charlie was at Eton.
Last night, Charlie said the play had made him feel emotional, adding: “They portray something on stage you really just couldn’t act and I think with a father-son play, it makes a huge difference.”
Jack revealed that although he does not exchange letters with his father, James does send him cards with “very small and concise pieces of advice that I should think about — it was always very on-point”.
Also in the audience were Clare Balding, Cath Kidston, Mark Gatiss, Samantha Bond, Amanda Redman and Jack Whitehall, Jack’s co-star in Fresh Meat.
Balding, who watched the play with her parents Ian and Emma — family friends of the Mortimers — said: “It was so good, the relationship between James and Jack on stage, that father-son thing.
“It was really, really lovely. I said to my dad on the way out, ‘You should have written me more letters’.”
Gatiss said: “I thought it was very charming, very touching and a really lovely night at the theatre.
“The father-son dynamic had an extra resonance, I think. It’s a very, very sweet play. Unexpectedly so.”
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