{"id":531570,"date":"2026-04-15T04:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/531570\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T04:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:44:20","slug":"eastenders-dawn-star-unrecognisable-in-hollywood-film-after-crying-over-soap-axe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/531570\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders’ Dawn star unrecognisable in Hollywood film after ‘crying’ over soap axe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kara Tointon has remained booked and busy since her EastEnders exit as Dawn Swann, including a role in an upcoming Hollywood movie<\/p>\n

Joe Crutchley Screen Time Reporter<\/p>\n

16:23, 14 Apr 2026Updated 16:26, 14 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"No<\/p>\n

EastEnders actress unrecognisable in Hollywood film after ‘crying’ over soap axe(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

Former EastEnders<\/a> star Kara Tointon looks worlds away from her Walford character in a brand new Hollywood blockbuster.<\/p>\n

The actress shot to fame when she joined the BBC One soap<\/a> in 2005, as Dawn Swann, the step-sister of Joe Swash’s character Mickey Miller. And it\u2019s fair to say it didn\u2019t take her long to become a firm favourite with fans.<\/p>\n

Kara was also involved in some big storylines playing Dawn<\/a>. From her romance with married man Rob Minter (Stuart Laing) to her fleeting fling with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Dawn\u2019s time in Walford was not short of drama.<\/p>\n

However, in 2009, Dawn left Walford after finding her fairy-tale ending with Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves), with the couple departing on a canal boat alongside her daughter, Summer.<\/p>\n

\"BBC\"<\/p>\n

Kara played Dawn on the BBC soap(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

And according to Kara, the decision that bosses made to axe her character didn\u2019t go down too well with her. She told the Daily Star at the time: “I was heartbroken when they told me, and I have to admit I did cry.<\/p>\n

“I just have to dust myself down and get back out there. I’ve already told them that if they do plan to kill Dawn, I will refuse to close my eyes in the dying scenes!”<\/p>\n

Since her soap exit, Kara has remained in high demand. In 2010, she won Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> and has appeared in shows such as The Teacher, Archie, and Too Good To Be True.<\/p>\n

\"Dawn<\/p>\n

She was last seen in 2009(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

And later this year, she is set to appear in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Kara plays Willamae Abernathy, the mother of Haymitch Abernathy, in the movie, which features a stellar cast including Elle Fanning, Ralph Fiennes, and Kieran Culkin.<\/p>\n

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set 24 years before the events of the first film<\/a>, showing many iconic characters in their youth, including Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abernathy.<\/p>\n

\"Hunger<\/p>\n

Kara appears in the new Hunger Games movie<\/p>\n

And this week, fans were given a huge update on the film as a full-length trailer was released. During the trailer, Kara\u2019s character popped up on screen – and fans were left stunned.<\/p>\n

\u201cShaking at ar Dawn Swann in the new Hunger Games trailer…Hollywood Queen!\u201d declared one person on X. Someone else added: \u201cI knew it was her! Had to do a double take LOL.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third chimed in: \u201cOh wow, I did not recognise her.\u201d Echoing their thoughts, another shocked fan penned: \u201cWth, they really got our Eastenders<\/a> girl in the new Hunger Games.\u201d A fifth wrote: \u201cOUR DAWN, F*** OFF! GO ON!\u201d<\/p>\n

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kara Tointon has remained booked and busy since her EastEnders exit as Dawn Swann, including a role in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1078,96,2534,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-531570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-eastenders","tag-entertainment","tag-soap-operas","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}