Bessie Carter
Bessie Carter is following in the footsteps of her parents, Imelda Staunton and Downton’s Jim Carter, with a plum role in Beecham House
The star of new period drama Beecham House is following in the footsteps of her famous parents, Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter
Many children grow up dreaming of becoming an astronaut or a footballer before settling on something rather more prosaic. But for Bessie Carter, there was only one option – acting.
She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her parents Jim
Carter and Imelda Staunton and from her first starring role in a school production of Henry VIII: Tudor Dude, she was hooked.
“I wore a beard from the National Theatre that my mum borrowed by pulling a few strings and I had a pillow stuck up my jumper,” Bessie says. “I remember that vividly. Acting was always what I enjoyed most at school and what I was best at. There was never a light-bulb moment for me where I thought, ‘Ah, I’ll be an actress’ because it was just always going to happen. I think because I grew up around actors, it felt completely normal.”
Bessie, 25, has now landed a role in ITV’S lavish new period drama Beecham House. She plays Violet Woodhouse, a potential love interest for leading man John Beecham (Tom Bateman). Set in India, Beecham House, dubbed “Downton in Delhi”, was created by Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha.
Bessie’s father played Downton Abbey’s Mr Carson and her mother appears in the film of the series, out in September. “It’s wonderful to be able to all support each other,” Bessie says, “They’re so excited about Beecham House and my dad came out on set.
“And I love that Beecham House is being compared to Downton, especially as I am ‘upstairs’. I am officially posher than my dad – and so is my mum because she’s
“I love that Beecham House is being compared to Downton”
‘upstairs’ in the Downton film. It’s great fun and we do laugh about it.”
An only child growing up in London, Bessie spent her days playing make-believe with friends Roz and Juliet. She says, “They were like my sisters. We were very outdoorsy and we were always in the treehouse or going on adventures. I think that make-believe world fed into my desire to act.”
But at secondary school Bessie became unhappy and frustrated, desperate to pursue her career. Jim persuaded her to stay on until she was 18, which she did before taking a year out to go to Australia, later landing a place at Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
“I was close to leaving school as I was so unhappy,” she says. “But my dad said I’d feel such satisfaction and be so proud to complete school and he was right. I’m glad I did it. Afterwards I took a year out to recover from the angst and anger of school and travelled to Australia by myself and worked as a stage manager before coming home to drama school.”
On graduating, Bessie got a part in The Roundabout at London’s Park Theatre and has worked fairly consistently ever since. She played Evie Wilcox, opposite Matthew Macfadyen and Hayley Atwell, in BBC1’S Howards End.
“I’ve had a couple of stints of six months without work but I’ve been very lucky,” she admits. “Theatre is where my heart lies. I still find screen very scary and I think I’ve got more to learn But I have had some lovely parts and I am growing in confidence.
“I’m getting better at forgetting about the audition the moment I walk out of the door, unless it’s a job I really want, in which case it’s hard. But if you don’t get it you just have to think, ‘Oh they didn’t like my interpretation of the character’ rather than, ‘I wasn’t good enough’ or ‘they didn’t like me.’”
In Beecham House, Violet arrives in India after an eightmonth voyage from England as companion to John’s mother Henrietta, played by Lesley Nicol – Downton’s Mrs Patmore.
Henrietta has promised that in return for accompanying her she will make Violet a match with her son. But when they arrive, sweaty and overwhelmed, they find John has other plans.
Bessie is still pinching herself at getting such a great job so early in her career. “I can’t express how lucky I feel,” she says. “When
I was growing up, my parents didn’t have the recognition they have now, so I know what it is to be a jobbing actor without the perks that they enjoy these days.
“We filmed in these beautiful gardens where there were peacocks roaming around and
monkeys in the tree and it was incredible to be there. It was a joy. My dad came on set for a week and he was in heaven. It was such a treat to have him there. My mum was filming but she’d love to come out if there is a second series.”
Having also appeared in the big-screen version of Les Misérables and tv’s Cranford, it would appear Bessie is a popular choice for period pieces. “I know, I do have a period-drama face. I love them, though. I love escaping to another world and I love the language.
“But what’s really great these days is we are putting a modern spin on them and so you get a drama told from a female point of view or a minority point of view, rather than just enjoying bonnets and frills, which I think is brilliant.
“that’s definitely true of Beecham House, which is about a time in history that really isn’t that well known, when England and France were battling for power in India. But it’s also about family and connections and love and there is romance and everything you would want from a big drama.”
the series, which also features Marc warren and Adil ray, looks set to be a hit with its lavish scenes of palaces, bejewelled elephants, battle scenes and women in saris, so it is more than likely that Bessie will become a household name. But that’s not something that fazes her. She still lives a 10-minute walk from her parents’ house, pops in regularly and in her spare time loves going for a pint in the sunshine with a good book before heading home to “watch Netflix.”
“People do come up to my parents but it’s not that weird,” she says. “It’s mainly when the two of them are together. the height difference gets more attention than who they actually are. I think it might be stressful to be super-duper famous. I’m not aspiring to any of that. It’s all about the work for me. I just want to keep working and chipping away and doing good roles.”
Beecham House is on tonight at 9pm on ITV.