Had their mutual friend been successful at previously setting up Sebastian Fox, he might never have introduced him – twice – to the actor Simon Callow. In early 2012, Sebastian was at a Prokofiev concert performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, at which Simon was the narrator. He had been invited by their friend Tim Walker, then the chief executive of the orchestra, who took him backstage afterwards to meet Simon. “It was very rushed,” remembers Simon. “It was really about one and a half minutes.”
But Walker persisted, and took Sebastian to see Simon’s one-man show, Being Shakespeare, a few weeks later. Afterwards, the three of them, along with another friend, went for dinner. At dinner, Sebastian seemed quiet, and the conversation, says Simon, “was sort of general, between the four of us. It was very enjoyable, but it wasn’t like we particularly managed to engage very much.” It was when they left, Sebastian walking purposefully ahead, that, Simon says, “I remember thinking, very vividly, how electric your energy was. I thought, gosh, he’s very attractive from behind.”
