Molly Rainford interview
Nova Jones is about a popstar playing sell-out gigs to her legions of fans all across the universe. Meanwhile it's up to McLaren to organise her superstar big sister's tour schedule, her many moods and to untangle the various knotty situations that Nova gets them into! Star Molly Rainford explains more...
Tell us about Nova Jones.
Nova is the biggest pop star in the galaxy. She's a lovable diva she's sometimes a little hard work, but she's also got a loving side and in the end she does appreciate everything the other characters do for her.
Like any siblings, Nova and McLaren bicker a lot and don't see eye to eye all the time, but in the end it's a really sweet relationship.
Are there any elements of Molly in there? Tell us about how you are similar/different.
Well I hope I'm not a diva! But our passion for music is very similar and I guess I'm a bit of a perfectionist like Nova and I have to keep on doing things until I get it right. I don't wear as many sparkles though! Another similarity is that Nova has a pet called Gurgle which is half pug, half alien, and my dog Nelly is a pug.
You have been singing from a young age. What is it like for you being able to combine your singing talent within an acting role?
It's the perfect role for me! Acting is always something I'd wanted to do, so it was a nice challenge because it's completely different to anything I've done before.
I presented Friday Download on CBBC, which was more about being Molly, so this is completely different because it's an acting role where I get to do what I love, which is sing.
Tell us about the original songs in the show.
The songs are super catchy, very poppy and feel good. Nova sings a duet, a musical film number and more upbeat, fun stuff, so it's a real range of songs, but they're all earworms.
It was amazing on set because if we'd filmed a song in the morning, you'd hear the rest of the crew singing it throughout the day. You know it's catchy if you've got the sound man still singing it at the end of the day!
The costumes and hair and make-up are incredible, why they are so important?
Nova has a real sense of style and she's very extravagant, she's all about the sparkles, the glitter, the bright colours. What job can you go into and wear all these different colours and even switch your hair colour all the time? It's perfect, it's like playing dress up!
We hear that Nova has a 'dressomatic' which allows her to change outfits in an instant...
Imagine being able to do that in real life! I'd love to quickly think about what you want to wear and it just appears! That would be easy to get ready in the mornings wouldn't it?
But in reality, you must have spent so long in hair and make-up?
It was a fairly long process, I was always first one in and last one out on set with a lot of costume changes. But it was so much fun, I love dressing up and trying different lipsticks and eye shadows.
Nova is a trend-setting singing sensation, what trend would you like to set?
As Nova, the trend I would like to set is glitter, sparkles and sequins on everything because I feel like especially in the time that we've been in, we need a bit more sparkle and excitement. No more time dressing in black all day, we need a bit more colour now!
What was your funniest moment on set?
I was filming a scene with my back to the door of the set and the director said, "Molly stay in it, keep being Nova". It was my birthday and all of a sudden a birthday cake was brought onto set. It was the sweetest moment ever, they managed to really surprise me, I didn't see it coming!