It would be two years before Fox would get work, and even then that gig, the TV series Haunted, would last just 12 episodes.

“Whatever job comes your way, you have to take it,” says Fox.

“This business is about attrition, and when the opportunity comes, you have to be ready to take it,” the actor says.

In 2002, Fox was officially unemployed. Hard for any actor, but more so for one that just loves getting up in the morning and going to work.

Ironically, Fox had stated in an interview in the early ’90s that he feared people wouldn’t recognise him after Party of Five – because he’d be without his trademark beard.

“I’ll fade into obscurity. Once I shave my beard off people have no idea who I am,” Fox had said.

Some five years later, someone did remember Matthew. That was JJ Abrams, of Alias fame, who was casting a new series called Lost. Abrams asked Fox in to audition for the role of the show’s male protagonist.

“It was such a page-turner,” Fox told TV Guide of the original pilot script for Lost. “I said I’d play anyone, it was just so fantastic. JJ said: ‘I really think you’re Jack.’”

The role of the heroic Jack (originally one for which producers considered Michael Keaton!) on the castaways series has - unlike Party of Five – opened many doors for Fox. In addition to completing four seasons of the hit series, he’s also squeezed in a few films – Smokin’ Aces, We are Marshall, Speed Racer and Vantage Point.

In the action-packed thriller Vantage Point, Fox plays a secret service agent who witnesses an attack on the US president (played by William Hurt).

Fox told Entertainment Weekly that he was attracted to the project because Pete Travis (Omagh) was directing it, but more so because of the ingenious storyline.