The EastEnders and Strictly star takes on her toughest role yet ? as an Ayckbourn villain in Absent Friends
Kara Tointon says most actors want people to like them. Sometimes, with this in mind, they talk themselves into believing that the unpleasant roles in which they have been cast are sympathetic. But Alan Ayckbourn's Evelyn, in his 1974 tragicomedy Absent Friends (about to be revived by Jeremy Herrin in the West End), is an irredeemably vile young woman. Her speciality is the lethal one-liner. "It is the timing and pitch that are the challenge," Tointon says. "This is the hardest part I have ever done." And what makes the casting intriguing is that "nasty" is not ordinarily in her repertoire ? she is sweetness itself.
She is an Essex girl ? born in Basildon, raised in Southend. Her claims to fame are wonderfully various. She was Dawn Swann in EastEnders (a four-year stint) and a gorgeous Eliza Doolittle in last year's Pygmalion. She is also known for a brave television programme about dyslexia (Don't Call Me Stupid) and for the fancy footwork that won the 2010 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
But dyslexia is, she says, often the first thing she is asked about. She is surprised by this and was taken aback by how vulnerable making the programme made her feel. "Once you leave school [she is 28], you find your comfort zone and don't stray from it. You blag your way through." The hard part of the programme was taking tests to reveal a 12-year-old reading age. "It was horrible, I felt physically sick." To combat dyslexia, she now wears ? for reading ? green-tinted specs. "They calm me down. I recommend them, they changed my life."
Tointon has the dainty looks of a ballet dancer. And it was while dancing, on Strictly, that she fell in love with her Russian-American partner, Artem Chigvintsev. "It was a completely cheesy situation," she laughs. And do they still dance together? "I thought we would as a hobby. But it is Artem's work. I would feel bad asking him to dance with me in the evenings."
Her dream role is Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. And she would be brilliant. I have to say it because she certainly won't: "I am very self-critical. It is draining ? I should ease up." Fortunately, she also has a "dry sense of humour" and a supportive family ? "they are my hub of friends". Her accountant father approved when she took up drama. "If you can perform in an interview, it will have been worthwhile," he said. And she certainly can ? just not the sort of interview he had in mind.
Absent Friends is at the Harold Pinter theatre until 14 April. Kara Tointon is patron of Be Child Cancer Aware
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/jan/29/kara-tointon-interview-absent-friends
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