For British soap fans there was a familar face in the newly released Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer.
Lionsgate unveiled the first full length trailer for the hugely anticipated prequel movie this week, showing off the film’s A-list cast which includes Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning and Ralph Fiennes.
But in a blink and you miss it moment, EastEnders legend Kara Tointon, 42, also appeared.
Kara has a key role in the movie, playing Willamae Abernathy, the mother of lead Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zara. The part was played by Woody Harrelson in the original franchise.
The prequel, adapted from series author Suzanne Collins’ 2025 novel of the same name, ‘will revisit the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games,’ which sees the son of Kara’s character selected as tribute.
The trailer includes a brief scene of a shocked looking Kara tightly hugging her younger son Sid Abernathy as chaos ensues in Panem.
EastEnders fans were delighted to spot Kara, with one posting on X that they were ‘shaking at ar Dawn Swann in the new Hunger Games trailer…Hollywood Queen!’
‘KARA TOINTON IN THE HUNGER GAMES? Dawn Swann, you’ve come so far!’ cried another.
Kara shot to fame in 2005 when she landed the part of Dawn Swann, the step-sister of Joe Swash’s character Mickey Miller in EastEnders.
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.
Kara went on to win the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, with her then-boyfriend, professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev.
She has also starred in major TV dramas Mr Selfridge and The Teacher but The Hunger Games marks her first movie role since 2022.
In 2025 Kara revealed that she had undergone a double mastectomy a year prior after learning that she carries the deadly BRCA1 gene.
The actress shared an emotional post to Instagram detailing her decision after losing her mother to ovarian cancer in 2018.
She announced that she has undergone a double mastectomy and had her fallopian tubes removed as a preventative measure.
Kara’s operation came just six years after her mother Carol passed away following a battle with ovarian disease.
As an ambassador for the Eve appeal, a charity that raises awareness of gynaecological cancers, the actress explained that after she losing her mother she underwent genetic testing which revealed that she is predisposed to the disease.
She said: ‘There is a history of both cancers in my family but for various reasons including generational trauma of which I’ll talk more about another time, we hadn’t looked into it until that point.
‘But it was put to us, we took the test and it was confirmed that my mum and I both carried the gene.’
As a mother-of-two, Kara told how her family were her main consideration in her decision making.
She said: ‘I was pregnant with my first child at the time, knew I wanted more children if possible so over the next couple of years I was invited to various meetings by the NHS to really become informed and to understand all my options.
‘Last year having had my second son in 2021 and deciding that our family was complete, I underwent two preventative surgeries.
‘The first a double mastectomy and the second a two part protector study, a trial.
‘They believe that ovarian cancer begins in the fallopian tubes so by removing them first checking out you can remove the ovaries later.’
Kara revealed that after having several medical investigations, she decided that surgery was the best option.
‘We are finding out more and more about personal genetics and most people believe in surveillance, but after doing this for a couple of years, having MRIs, waiting for biopsy, we decided that this was the right decision for me and my family,’ she said.
‘I wasn’t an easy decision, but one I am very glad that I made and I can now with hindsight talk about it properly.’
Kara raises two sons Frey and Helly with her Norwegian partner Marius, a chiropractor. The family divide their time between Britain and Norway where Kara’s sister Hannah and her father still live.
In a 2024 interview with Weekend Magazine Kara admitted she was ‘just hitting her stride’ at age 41 as she opened up about wanting to give her children an idyllic childhood away from the spotlight that’s followed her for so many decades.
She explained: ‘I’m really enjoying getting older. I know we’re in a world where people grapple with that but I feel like I’m learning to like myself more and hopefully becoming a more well-rounded person.
‘A lot of the stuff people struggle with is down to circumstances – everyone has bad stuff happen to them and that can happen at any age.
‘I think experience means you know how to deal with things and hopefully grow and build and get stronger from it.’
