Romance with Mr. Selfridge? But he's my dad! Kara Tointon brushes off rumours of a dalliance with Jeremy Piven and reveals why she split up with her Strictly lover
Curled up on a sofa with their arms around each other, Hannah and Kara Tointon are two peas in an Essex pod.
They’re wearing almost identical washed-out skinny jeans, tight tops and high-heeled boots, they finish each other’s sentences, and when they laugh – which they do a lot – it’s almost always in unison.
The two sisters are television regulars; Kara found fame as Dawn Swann on EastEnders before winning Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, while Hannah started on Hollyoaks and has gone on to have parts in acclaimed shows such as Call The Midwife and The Inbetweeners.
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Kara Tointon has quashed on rumours of romance with Jeremy Piven as he plays her father in Mr. Selfridge
But now, for the first time, they’re working together playing – yep – sisters in the new series of Mr Selfridge. ‘I got the job first,’ says Hannah, who at 27 is four years younger than Kara.
‘Don’t start!’ laughs her sister, before continuing, ‘I got a call saying I had an audition for a job on Mr Selfridge and that my sister had one ten minutes earlier. I thought they were for the same part – we’ve never had to audition for the same role before – so I called Hannah and said, “I won’t go for it,” but she told me I must.’
Thankfully, it turned out there were two roles on offer as Harry Selfridge’s grown-up daughters Rosalie and Violette, although they both dithered about taking them up once they were offered.
‘Because we’re so close to each other we weren’t keen on mixing the personal with the professional,’ says Kara. ‘But then our friends and agents pointed out that they were good parts we would ordinarily have leapt at. The producers say we got the parts on merit, but we know it possibly went in our favour that we have the same DNA and look similar.’
They look at each other and giggle. ‘But how often does it happen that you have something like that going for you? It’s such a one-off situation. We spent the first few days just giggling at each other because of the way we were dressed.’ Hannah butts in, ‘And when we had to speak seriously to each other it was so weird!’
Hannah (left) joins her sister Kara (right) in the new series of Mr. Selfridge
Kara looks serious for a minute. ‘I think that’s one reason we weren’t keen at first; working with someone you love can just be weird. But then we realised that if we took the parts we wouldn’t have to do any auditions for a few months, and even better, it was filming in London.
'When we got the parts we watched the shows back to back on DVD. I’d dipped into it before but it’s the sort of show that if you binge-watch you get wrapped up in it. I love the way the writers entwine fact and fiction; and as the series moves on it gets more crazy and beautiful.’
The third series of the show, based on the real-life story of Harry Gordon Selfridge who founded one of London’s most famous department stores, is the darkest yet. It begins with a funeral as Harry buries his beloved wife Rose, and the seeds of his destruction – the real-life entrepreneur ended up penniless after losing his beloved store – start to be sown.
One of the first scenes in the new series shows Kara’s character Rosalie, Harry’s eldest child, marrying an impoverished Russian prince, Serge De Bolotoff (played by Leon Ockenden), who comes with an imperious mother Princess Marie (Zoë Wanamaker).
‘In the first few episodes we’re left wondering whether Serge has married into the Selfridge family for the right reasons,’ says Kara. ‘He’s a wannabe entrepreneur in his own right and we’re not sure of his intentions; Rosalie could really have done with her mother around.’
Even more troubled is Hannah’s character Violette. She’s a bit of a feminist and desperate to get more involved with the store, but when her father rebuffs her she starts hanging around at a seedy jazz club owned by former Selfridges worker Victor Colleano (Trystan Gravelle).
‘Violette wants to work like a modern woman of the age but her dad doesn’t want her to because of her place in society so she starts to rebel,’ says Hannah. ‘And then she gets involved with Victor, who isn’t really appropriate.’ Kara interjects, ‘She becomes a bit of a hussy.’ Her sister eyes her. ‘You can talk! What about all the rumours about you?’ They both start giggling.
Kara famously started dating her Russian Strictly Come Dancing partner Artem Chigvintsev when they were on the show in 2010, but they broke up last year. She’s coy as she talks about the split, ‘Well, he went to do Dancing With The Stars in the States because of visa issues here but we’re still very good friends. I’m OK. You never know what might happen in the future.’
As a result of her newly single status Kara has found herself linked both with Jeremy Piven, who plays Mr Selfridge himself, and the show’s French actor Grégory Fitoussi, who plays Harry’s deputy Henri Leclair, after being pictured out with them.
‘Well, both times we were always out with a load of people but it looks pretty bad, doesn’t it,’ she smirks. Hannah, who lives with actor Joe Thomas, who she met on the Inbetweeners set when she played his character Simon’s girlfriend, giggles,
Kara with her Strictly Come Dancing partner Artem Chigvintsev
‘It looks like you’re going through the cast; you look like a hussy! But if you have to be linked with anyone, Grégory is pretty hot.’ Kara laughs, ‘Yessss! He’s not bad looking. I don’t mind being linked with him.’
While Jeremy Piven is known for being a ladies’ man, both girls say he’s never even tried to flirt with them. ‘Why hasn’t he?’ asks Hannah, temporarily affronted. ‘Maybe it’s because he’s playing our dad,’ says Kara. ‘But he’s been lovely; very welcoming and extremely encouraging.’
Born in Basildon, Essex, to a normal and happy middle-class family, neither of the two sisters harboured ambitions to become an actress. Kara suffered from dyslexia and her parents – their father’s an accountant and their mother a housewife – sent her to a weekend drama school to help with her confidence. Hannah naturally followed a few years later.
‘We’ve both been acting since we were kids, but it was a hobby initially. It wasn’t serious,’ says Kara. ‘I was going to study art but then I kept getting jobs and then I realised I loved acting and I decided to see what happened.’ Hannah similarly fell into it. ‘It was never a plan because I’m actually quite shy but like Kara I kept on getting work and we thought we would both give it a go.’
It hasn’t always been easy. ‘I think our parents do wish we had stable jobs,’ laughs Hannah. Her sister adds: ‘Jobs that are less like rollercoasters. There’s never a dull moment but the down side is you don’t know when you’re going to be working next and that can be quite daunting.’
Kara, who lives alone in north London, was actually considering giving up when she was offered the chance to take part in Strictly; she took it knowing it could either be the kiss of death for her acting career or propel her to a whole new level.
‘I did it for the money,’ she shrugs. ‘And then it turned into this special experience. I’d almost given up acting at the time because I was struggling to get work, although my agent tells me I must stop telling people how desperate I was because it makes me sound like a loser. I was worried about going down the reality show route, but in hindsight it worked.’
Hannah beams at her sister, ‘That’s the amazing thing about you; you can turn anything around. You’re special like that.’ Kara laughs, ‘It’s a family joke that I do things that aren’t the ideal scenario but somehow I get away with it.’
After Strictly, Kara went into an acclaimed stage version of Pygmalion and has gone on to work on both stage and screen. She says she often goes to her little sister for advice. ‘Hannah knows what’s right and wrong for her, while I always waver,’ she says. ‘Sometimes Hannah will tell me not to do something and I’ll do it anyway – it might not go well, whoops-a-daisy! – but somehow I get back on track.’
Both have new film projects underway as they wait to see whether Mr Selfridge will be recommissioned for a fourth series. ‘So far we’re both making a career out of this,’ says Kara with a surprised smile on her face. ‘But you never know how long it will last,’ says Hannah. They grin at each other: ‘But if we had to do something else, we’d both have to do the same thing,’ says Kara. ‘Yes, the same thing,’ laughs her sister.
The new series of Mr Selfridge starts later this month.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2913425/Romance-Mr-Selfridge-s-dad-Kara-Tointon-brushes-rumours-dalliance-Jeremy-Piven-reveals-split-Strictly-lover.html#ixzz3P7bBFf1G
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