HITTING 40 is a milestone many actresses dread – but not Kara Tointon.
Thankfully the former Strictly winner has never been in greater demand for “mummy” roles.
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This month she makes her TV comeback in Channel 5 thriller Too Good To Be True, playing struggling single mother Rachel.
She is plucked from her cleaning agency to work for a sinister client, played by Downton Abbey’s Allen Leech, who turns out to be obsessed with her.
And it is a part she can certainly relate to, as Kara herself has two children aged five and three and rarely has time to glam up.
She seems to have barely aged since her breakthrough EastEnders role in 2005 as feisty Dawn Swann.
But she tells The Sun on Sunday: “I don’t think I look young, I’m ageing like the rest of us.
“Motherhood hits you like a punchbag, so there’s no beauty regime at the moment. I’m lucky if I make it into the shower in the morning.
“But it has been such an amazing dose of reality. It’s very grounding, motherhood, I can tell you that.
“Everything goes out of the window and you just have one focus.”
In 2022, Kara split from the children’s dad, Norwegian chiropractor Marius Jensen, months before he was pictured kissing a mystery brunette in London.
But they continue to co-parent, and their kids stayed in Norway while she filmed the new drama on location in Ireland.
Before Marius, Kara dated her Strictly pro partner Artem Chigvintsev for four years after they won the BBC One dance contest in 2010.
Changing times
In recent years she has worked mostly in theatre while juggling childcare, and admits she was nervous about going back to TV.
But she was relieved to discover increased opportunities, and says: “As an actor, you take what comes in.
“You audition and you either get it or you don’t. I’m a jobbing actress and I go for the parts.
“I hit 40 last year and I feel like the TV parts coming in are much more stimulating than they’ve been for the past few years.
“Before that I was doing a lot of theatre, which I love because the roles were so much better.
“But now, after having my kids, I feel like I can dip my toes back into filming and it’s been great.”
And playing a Wag in Sky football drama Dream Team, a schoolkid in Channel 4 comedy Teachers, a “tart with a heart” in EastEnders and a tycoon’s daughter in period drama Mr Selfridge, she is now revelling in playing a no-nonsense mum.
Kara says: “I have been doing this since I was very young. You’re the kid, then you’re the bitchy teenager, then you get the phase where you’re neither here nor there.
“It’s lovely when you get to the age when there’s more out there. There’s more material, it’s really nice.
“We’re also getting into a period when the scope is so vast, but I’m enjoying all these mother roles coming in. Being a mother myself, I can really relate to them.”
After having my kids, I feel like I can dip my toes back into filming and it’s been great
She adds: “We’re in such changing times — it’s a good time for women in general.
“It’s like age is becoming less of a thing. I’m really enjoying getting older and I’m at a stage of my life when I feel good in my skin.
“I’m embracing age, and I’m excited to.
“I love meeting women who have been there, done that, have got the T-shirt so elegantly, and it’s very attractive.
“I think age is attractive. It’s very personal. Some people are terrified of it but I’m just lucky I’m not terrified of it.”
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Her role in Too Good To Be True will also see Kara show off a more physical side.
In the series opener, her character Rachel grapples with her ex-partner and pulls a knife on him, which may shock fans who have followed her career.
She says: “She’s got kickass in her. She’s never had it easy and has no support network around her.
“She’s always had to have a bit of grit to her under the surface.
“Rachel’s a happy-go-lucky British woman doing her best but it’s all coming at her and life is really tough.
Do it your way
“She’s on the breadline, working all hours for a cleaning agency, and she just happens to have this incredibly intelligent and academically gifted 11-year-old, so she’s not going to stick around in anything that’s going to be detrimental to her son.
“And romance is off the cards. All she’s concentrating on is making the best of it for her and her boy.”
Recently another ex-soap star, former Corrie favourite Michelle Keegan, scored an international hit with Netflix thriller series Fool Me Once.
She attributed her performance to the experience working on a long-running ITV drama, and it is a view that Kara echoes.
She says: “Having the background of soap and that fast-paced production line of drama is definitely an amazing training ground.
“You’ve got to get prepared as quickly as possible and it’s all or nothing. You do so many pages a day and it’s intense.
“It’s so nice when you’re doing so many pages a day to then go to a drama and have more time, or a show where you have less to do in a day and spend more time on it.
“You never know what’s coming next. It could be a ridiculous rollercoaster or something like this four-episode series where you know your beginning, middle and end, which is really nice.”
Besides her acting work, Kara has revealed she is making a follow-up to her 2010 BBC3 documentary on her struggles with dyslexia, Don’t Call Me Stupid.
More than a decade on, it will once again reflect on her learning difficulties as her children are on the verge of entering primary education.
We’re in such changing times — it’s a good time for women in general
She has learned to cope with her dyslexia over the years and is pleased that big names in the industry, including Idris Elba, have since come forward to raise more awareness of the condition.
She says: “Dyslexia is always something where you have to go about things in a certain way.
“You have your tools to make things easier and I’ve been really lucky at finding ways to help with the learning of lines and I’m fortunate that once they go in, they stay in.
“I just have to work at things a bit harder. We’re so lucky we are coming into an age when people are open to everything, people like Idris and other amazing actors who have been so open about their dyslexia.
“I was at an awards ceremony a few years ago where Idris had to open a letter from King Charles and he hadn’t rehearsed it, and he said, ‘I’m dyslexic so it might be a bit rough’, but he just read it as a dyslexic might read and it was really nice that he is in a position where he can do things like that.
“There’s a lot about the modern world which is quite s**t but there’s a lot to be thankful for — that people aren’t scared of holding back about learning difficulties or neurodiversity.
“It’s all to play for and you’ve got to do it your way.”
- Too Good To Be True begins on Channel 5 on Wednesday at 9pm.
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What has Kara Tointon starred in?
In 2017 Kara Tointon starred in ITV period drama The Halcyon.
In 2010 she did a documentary about Dyslexia for BBC Three called Kara Tointon: Don’t Call Me Stupid.
She has also appeared on the West End – in 2011 she played Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre.
In 2010 she was crowned the winner of Strictly Come Dancing with partner Artem Chigvintsev.