Big interview: Hannah Tointon

She is one of the British acting world's bright young things. Now appearing in a touring production of the thriller Strangers on a Train, Hannah Tointon talks to Phil Penfold.
Hannah Tointon.Hannah Tointon.
Hannah Tointon.

Hannah Tointon laughs and admits that she has a bit of a guilty secret. “I am a secret eavesdropper,” confides the actress. “Actually, ‘eavesdropper’ isn’t quite the right word. ‘Forced listener’ is more accurate because I don’t deliberately go out to do it, but I am a complete people watcher. It’s very useful to observe other people when you are an actress. It’s a way of seeing how others tick, and react.”

It seems pretty apposite, then, that Hannah’s first theatrical outing for some while, will be in a stage version of Strangers on a Train, which, before being made into a lucrative box office success for Alfred Hitchcock was an early bestseller from the pen of Patricia Highsmith, who went on to author The Talented Mr Ripley.

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“For me, she is the mistress of the psychological story,” says Hannah. “Always examining the motives of her characters, and Strangers is one of her best. It was first published back in 1950, and the movie came along a year later.

“It is a fascinating story – two men accidentally meet up on a rail journey and end up plotting to carry out the perfect murder. It’s a brilliant look into a pair of very twisted minds. We were all told, before we started rehearsals, that we weren’t to watch the film version, and I stuck by that – but now I really want to get at it, and to see how they tackled it for the big screen.”

The younger sister of Kara, who is currently part of the company at the Royal National in what is turning out to be an illustrious season, Hannah recently turned 30 and is planning for her wedding this year. She and Inbetweeners co-star Joe Thomas met on the set of the show, got engaged last year and now live in The Barbican in London.

“I am very much a home bird,” she says. “Joe and I aren’t a couple who have to be seen all the time at parties and openings. I’ve been someone who likes their own space and their own things around them for as long as I can remember.

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“We won’t be having a big show-business wedding. We’re looking for venues at the moment, the right place that will suit us, our families and our very close friends. That’s all I’m saying – apart from the fact that we both owe a great debt of gratitude to that programme for getting us both together.”

Hannah and Kara worked together for the first time on Mr Selfridge and Hannah admits that having big sis around was a big support.

“It was wonderful for two reasons. The first is that she’s such a good actress, and secondly, I had an ally on the set, and we could talk things over in the lunch-breaks, which was fun. We are very close and open with each other and we’re always calling each other up and talking about how the day has been.”

Hannah’s first taste of acting was tagging along to Kara’s drama groups around Leigh-on-Sea. Spotted by an agent, she soon found herself in the West End, auditioning for the role of Kathy in the musical version of Whistle Down the Wind.

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“Very much to my surprise, I landed it. Not bad for your first professional job, eh? And, of course, I fell in love with performing, so the rest is history.”

She made quite an impact playing Katy Fox in Hollyoaks, but stayed in the cast for only a year. “It had originally been a six-month contract, but they wanted me to stay for a little bit longer,” she says. “It was fun, I had some good storylines, but I knew that I had to move on. That’s the way I am. Some people can play a character in an ongoing drama for years and years, but I don’t feel that I’d be at all comfortable with that.

“I’ve always believed in tackling things that you’ve never done before, and getting out of your own comfort zone. Even if you completely fall on your backside, at least you’ve given it a go. And – we all hope – we all learn by our mistakes, and profit from the experience.”

Having bypassed drama school, Hannah has instead learnt on the job and admits to closely watching fellow cast members to pick up tips.

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“For me, it has, for me, been a case of learning by osmosis,” she says. “This stage experience is going to be so valuable for me. When I’m doing TV or film, you can always look at the day’s work on playback, and you can see where you can improve things. In live performance you have to trust yourself, your director and your fellow cast members, and that’s a big ask.

“And you can also, if you choose, read your reviews. Some actors find that useful, others ignore them. Me? I’m going to see what they say. Burying your head in the sand is never going to help, is it?”

If Hannah had to offer a word or two of advice to young performers starting out on a career, she would tell them: “Just be yourself. Be you. Not what others want you to be. Straining to be someone or something other than what you are will only, long-term, dent your sense of worth. Take small steps, not huge leaps.

“And, about advice, it’s probably better not to give it anyway, because 10 to one, if you do, someone is pretty likely to come back at you, after a short while, with ‘Well if it hadn’t been for you saying...’ Better, maybe, just to keep quiet, and offer an opinion, if and when it is required.”

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Her pet hate is when people don’t give 100 per cent and while she is putting it all into Strangers on a Train it seems likely that she will be flexing her comedy muscles again sometime soon.

“I love it when people make me laugh – my parents are always funny, often unintentionally. My mum’s the cheeky one, she has a naughty glint in her eye. People who tell you a story, for example, about taking out the bins, but who make you fall about with laughter because they relate it in such a special way, they are the ones I want to have around me.

“Professionally, comedy is probably the hardest thing to pull off – because so many actors try to make it funny. If you tackle it seriously, that’s where the laughs are, and that’s what good writers give you.”

She’ll miss Joe “beyond words” when she is on tour. “But hey, I can get home – briefly – on most weekends. It’s not as if I’m in Glasgow and he’s shooting a movie in Brazil for six months, is it? We’ll have lots to tell each other, that’s for sure”.

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And, one suspects, there will be a lot of laughter, as well. Both now, and in the future.

Strangers on a Train, Sheffield Lyceum, January 15 to 20, 0114 249 6000, sheffieldtheatres.co.uk; Grand Theatre and Opera House, York, March 5 to 10, 0844 871 3024, atgtickets.co.uk

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