You’re getting ready for a night out with your friends—what does that look like? I don’t think the word "chaotic" would be too far removed from the reality of the ritual.
For me, this visual conjures up scenes of eye shadow palettes left agape and balancing haphazardly on narrow sink edges, half-sipped glasses of Prosecco dotted on every conceivable surface (totalling a ratio of three flutes to each person) and clothes strewn around the room as if they’ve been set flying into the air from a party popper. This, however, is not how Carla Tous prepares for an event.
When I speak with Tous, a Spanish actor with whom 99% of the British population is about to become very familiar, it’s the day after one of the biggest events in her career to date: the London premiere of her latest project, Paddington in Peru. She keeps her camera off out of necessity—she’s dashing between meetings—and, in doing so, I'm left with some uncertainty about who I’m actually speaking with. It is Tous, of course, but my research tells me she is 23 years old; her answers however say something else.
Her voice rings with a thoughtful calm, unhurried and self-assured—a quality that suggests she’s as meticulously prepared off-screen as she is on, something that isn’t often attributed to someone of her age. I know now that she’ll have approached the styling process for this, the premiere of one of the most anticipated films of the year, with the same consideration.
"I like to plan!," affirms Tous, right on cue. "I thought I would be more nervous about last night [the premiere of Paddington in Peru]. I was so looking forward to it, and I felt more nervous in the weeks prior than I actually felt on the day. I kept telling myself, this is what I do in Spain—much bigger, as Paddington is massive—but I was comfortable as I felt I already knew what I was doing and had planned everything as much as we could."
We joke that it’s always the way—whether you have 20 minutes or two hours, the final moments before you need to leave seem to go at triple speed. "Yes! It was all calm until I started looking at the clock; when I saw that we had, like, half an hour left before we had to leave, that's when the nerves kicked in! I kept saying, 'We don't have enough time, I need more time!' but everything turned out amazing." By everything, she means her look for the premiere, which she created together with stylist Holly White and a talented glam squad.
Wardrobes are finite—the items we own are all we have to choose from—so imagine the daunting prospect of deciding on an outfit when you have an endless stream of options at your disposal. Such is the task of getting ready for a red carpet event. Tous began working with White weeks ahead of the premiere, having initial conversations about colours and prints, accessories and what she’d later tell me was her main consideration—her hair.
But what speaks to Tous's professionalism is the courtesy given to her fellow Paddington castmates when having these conversations. "We are a big cast—there's ten of us—so I wanted to make sure that the look we chose would make sense with everything else visually. I didn’t want to wear anything that wouldn't work with their [her castmates] dresses."
"Whilst we had been talking for so long via Zoom, I didn’t meet Holly [White] until the day we were doing fittings—two days before the premiere! I live in Spain so it was the soonest we could meet, and I was worried we were leaving it too close but, again, we had been preparing for weeks. Preparation is key! Still, there’s always the concern you won’t feel good in anything, which you can’t predict." Thankfully, Tous didn’t have to worry about a plan B.
"It's funny; I know people say this about getting married, but the dress that we ended up going for was the first dress that I put on. It was a gorgeous white dress and even looking at it, I felt like a bride. I put it on and we were like, 'It's gonna be hard to do better than this.' In some ways, it’s tough to put that [dress] on first as it can make you close off to the idea of anything else. But everything else just wasn’t as nice on me as that first one.
"I did, however, have four options I was happy with, which we narrowed down to two. We decided to sleep on it but obviously, the first thing I did that night was ask my friends, my team—everyone—what they preferred, and every single one said, 'It’s got to be the white Jacquemus dress!' It just felt right; we didn't need to hem it or anything like that either. It felt like it was made for me. It was a sign."
It's clear that Tous values her inner circle above all else. Joining her from Spain and in the flat she was getting ready in was her best friend, her boyfriend and her agents from home and the UK. "It was so nice to be with the same people I would be with back in Spain—that made it all feel a little bit more 'normal.'" With so many people in the room, I was keen to learn what the energy was like in the lead-up to the screening. "It was packed but surprisingly chill," she tells me. "I knew it would be a long day, so we drank coffee, burnt incense and listened to Billie Eilish. Now, whenever I hear 'NDA,' I’ll think of this incredible moment."
Her dress may have only been decided upon 48 hours ahead of time, but Tous knew exactly what she wanted in terms of beauty well ahead of schedule, with her hair forming the crux of her final look from the onset.
"I was doing some research for this and kept seeing [people at] fashion week wearing their hair down with a really relaxed texture, and I loved it. I didn’t want [it] to be slicked back for a day event, and anything too sleek wasn’t going to work outside on the red carpet in the wind. So really, I had the inspiration for the hair and I was trying to find a dress to match! In the end, we chose a half-up, half-down style so that the earrings were on show." This makes total sense, given that her jewellery for the premiere came courtesy of Tiffany & Co.
When it came to the rest of her accessories, she worked with White to find items that wouldn’t detract from the simplicity of her white column dress but would instead enhance it. "I wear a lot of silver jewellery, so I’m glad we chose that colour," she says. This was achieved by way of some epic Jimmy Choo heels and a sleek Giarité bag, no less.
"For makeup, we wanted something really clean," elaborates Tous. "As I was wearing white, and the dress really spoke for itself, it didn't need anything overcomplicated, so we deliberately kept it minimal: glowy skin [and] we did a cute little brown wing, which I think looks great with my eyes. I have really big eyes and it helped to accentuate them. Black felt too harsh, so I like that we kept it soft with brown."
It’s clear to me Tous has relished every aspect of this experience. I ask her if she enjoys this part of her job; being prepped and primed ahead of public appearances, of which I’m sure she’ll be making many more once Paddington in Peru debuts in cinemas. "I find [getting ready for the red carpet] so inspiring. It’s like a work of art in the making—everyone is doing their thing and it’s incredible to see it all come together," she says.
Of course, we now know what Tous's red carpet style looks like, but I was curious to find out how she gets dressed when she’s not on the promo trail or shooting scenes. "When I’m at home, I love wearing my mum's clothes—my wardrobe is full of vintage clothes I’ve borrowed from her," she shares. "I love her belts. She has lots of great, really worn leather, too. The most iconic things I own come from her. It’s lovely to be able to wear her stuff now." And when she hangs up her Choos, what’s the shoe she’s most likely to be found in? "Converse! I’m all about comfort with shoes. I wear my Converse all the time."
It would be remiss of me not to direct our conversation towards Paddington. Earlier this week, I said to a colleague, "If you don’t count Paddington 2 amongst your favourite films, you’re no friend of mine." She thought I was joking but I was being earnest; so many people I know are passionate about Paddington, be it the stories, the movies, or indeed, the character, and I wondered if that impact—that expectation—was known to Tous before filming.
"Of course! I already knew about [the films] and had seen the first two a few times. It's weird because I saw the second one before the first." Tous is a woman after my own heart. "So yes, I saw the second one and thought it was hilarious, then I made sure to watch the first. That was long before being cast—I would never have imagined in a million years that I would be starring in the third film, that’s for sure!"
As for what’s next, Tous has a plan. Naturally. "At the moment, we're trying to make sure that my next step is the right one. This film is going to have such a huge impact on my career, and we want to make sure that we're following the right path and that the next project is as strong as Paddington. I just want to be able to tell stories that move me and that I'm really interested in. So for now, we're seeing where this takes us. I'm in auditions. I'm speaking to people and having those conversations.
"I am so grateful to have two teams—one in the UK and one in Spain—working together to make my career happen. What I’m doing is trying to keep myself calm and centred and doing the things that I love, like going to the gym, eating healthily and being surrounded by beautiful people. Anything that comes after that will be better if I have taken care of myself. Prioritising that is always the next step."
Paddington in Peru is in cinemas 8 November 2024.
Photography: Pip Bourdillon
Styling: Holly White
Styling Assistant: Eoin Thomas Higgins
Hair and Makeup: Charlotte Yeomans
Dress, Jacquemus; jewellery Tiffany & Co.; shoes, Jimmy Choo; bag, Giarité; coat, Versace
