The doors are about to open for ITV’s department store drama Mr Selfridge. Stars Jeremy Piven, Katherine Kelly and Zoe tapper talk to Steve Pratt about recreating the famous shop

AWARD-WINNING American actor Jeremy Piven was struck by some of the parallels between himself and Harry Selfridge, the department store pioneer he plays in ITV1’s new Sunday night drama. The series, Mr Selfridge, follows him as he comes to London to open a new style of store after transforming Chicago’s Marshall Field’s into a modern department store. The flamboyant personality also has an eye for a pretty woman, despite being married with children.

“He was a pioneer in every sense of the world. You have this American at the turn of the century coming over here and having a real sense of what he wants to do, even though it hasn’t been done before,” he explains.

“It’s a great role and a story many people don’t know. Growing up in Chicago, and going to Marshall Field’s from the time I was a kid, my family have a real history with it. So I had a sense of where this guy came from.”

There are differences. Selfridge was a showman who liked to be the centre of attention, whereas Piven likes to disappear in a room and watch everyone else.

“So in some ways I’m different and, in others, I can find parallels that I can use. I grew up on stage and he didn’t. He performs as a means to an end to inspire people to work hard. He loves his workers and motivates them through inspiration as opposed to intimidation.

It’s infectious.”

Piven comes to Mr Selfridge following an eight-season run on hit American TV drama Entourage, in which he won three Emmys and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ari Gold. His big screen credits include Black Hawk Down and Guy Ritchie’s Rocknrolla, while on stage he starred in Broadway hit Speed The Plow and Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig.

Working in Britain was a big draw for him as a long-time fan of the UK and its arts. He studied here at the National Theatre as part of an exchange programme, getting the chance to see plays every night featuring the likes of Judi Dench and Anthony Hopkins. Retail outlets were very different before the American invented the modern department store with Selfridge’s store in London’s Oxford Street.

Among his moves was to place beauty products at the front of the store, which noone else was doing at the time. “They were dabbling with it in Paris. But he was smart enough to take from the really brilliant trailblazing cultures. So as soon as customers walked in they would see these perfumes and beauty products.

“He even decided to take a chance with make-up, powder, rouge and lipstick when no-one else was doing it.

At the time people thought it was only for people on the stage or prostitutes.

What’s so fascinating is that here we are 100 years later, and you walk into any store and what he took a chance with and implemented in 1909 is going strong in every place that I can think of.”

While he had an eye for the ladies, Selfridge also “loved, honoured, respected and celebrated women and wanted them to come and feel empowered,” continues Piven. ”You could look at him and say from the outside, ‘how could a man who loved his wife and his family be seduced by these other women?’. Because of his love for the arts and for women he falls for Ellen. He’s so enamoured with her, the way she carries herself and her work as an artist. Then you see her rise and fall.

“I’m not saying you’ll understand it morally, but the writer Andrew Davies has done it so beautifully that you could possibly understand why he would take the path that he does. And yet it’s still surprising.”

What Piven didn’t know was where Selfridge found the energy for his hectic life. “He was out most nights and never missed the moment the store’s doors opened. He was the first celebrity of his time – available to be seen every day at his store and he loved it.

The character is such a feast because there are so many different sides to this guy, the public persona and the private persona. As an actor to play these dualities is a gift.”

A replica of the 1909 Selfridge store was built on a massive set, on a site in North London. Piven re-visited the real store in Oxford Street after getting the role.

“I went in honour of Harry Selfridge and I bought a jacket. I was totally under the radar and it was fantastic and I loved it. But I didn’t go parading around going, ‘do you have any idea who I am?’ I will never be that guy,” he says.

AS good time Gaiety girl Ellen Love, actress Zoe Tapper found herself dancing on stage at the Theatre Royal in London’s Drury Lane filming dance hall scenes for Mr Selfridge.

“It was brilliant but absolutely terrifying as well,” she says. “We filmed most of the dance sequences on that stage so it felt like we were doing the performance for real.

Ellen Love is not based on a real character but Tapper was reminded a little bit of Holly Golightly (from Breakfast At Tiffany’s). “She’s got this vivacious, sexy, wide-eyed side to her.

She lives the dream of the showgirl. On the other hand she’s also got these inner demons that lurk underneath and a fragility that can rear its head at any given time.

“Ellen says in the script, ‘I’m an upside down creature. Day is my night, night is my day’.

That describes her quite nicely. She’s a lovely social butterfly but sometimes allows herself to get a little bit too close to the fire. But she’s ultimately a survivor and can always claw her way back.”

Tapper researched the period, looking closely at the life of music hall and variety star Lily Elsie. “She was a forward- thinking woman who wrote a lot about what it was like to be an actress and a showgirl at that time.”

It’s another naughty woman role for Tapper. “It’s the complete opposite to me,” she says. “I’m a married woman with a baby, I have no time to be naughty.

Perhaps that’s where I get my inspiration – I lead a very normal life and get to play out my naughty side on screen.”

  • Mr Selfridge begins on ITV1 tomorrow at 9pm