Clara Copperfield Emilia Fox Clara is David's mother, widowed at 20: a beautiful, childlike woman who dotes on her only son. She trustingly marries Mr. Murdstone believing he will be a good father for David. When Noel Coward wrote the song Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington, his inspiration was Angela Worthington, a friend of Maggie Smith and grandmother of Emilia Fox -- or Millie, as she is better known -- who plays David Copperfield's mother Clara. The daughter of Edward Fox and actress Joanna David and niece of James Fox, she did have serious doubts about going on the stage and keeping the family acting dynasty going. "After school I thought I might be an actress. Then I thought: 'Don't. Don't.' I had many, many second thoughts about it. Acting is such a fragile business." Fox says of her role that Clara is a person who some people tend to dismiss as weak because she doesn't stand up to the cruel Murdstones. She, however, sees Clara more as a victim of circumstance and the age she lived in. She loved the script from the beginning. "The adaptation has kept a very strong core of the story. And what an extraordinary cast!"