Aidan Turner

Birthday: 19 June 1983, Ireland

Height: 180 cm

Aidan Turner was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1983. After graduating from the Gaiety School of Acting in 2004, Aidan appeared in a number of stage productions, many with Ireland's national theatre, The Abbey. Such productions included The Plough & The Stars, Romeo & Juliet and A Cry from Heaven. In 2008, Turner made the transition to movies and television with a lead role in the film Alarm and a co-starring role in the popular Irish TV drama The Clinic. In 2009, Turner moved to the UK to take on a starring role in BBC's acclaimed Being Human. Aidan played the spellbinding "Mitchell" for 3 seasons during which time he also starred in BBC's Desperate Romantics and BBC's top rated TV movie Hattie. In 2011, famed director Peter Jackson cast Turner in the role of Kili in JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit. The highly successful movie trilogy filmed for approximately two years in New Zealand during which time Aidan also starred in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments.In 2014 Turner was cast as Poldark in the BBC remake. Aidan was the only actor considered for this charismatic hero. Poldark premiered to excellent rating in the UK in March 2015 and also in the USA in June 2015. The BBC series is also airing across Europe and Australia.In 2015 Aidan took on a small role in The Secret Scripture so he could work with one of his favorite directors, Jim Sheridan. He also voiced a role in the first painted animation movie, Loving Vincent, co-starred in the dark comedy, Look Away and starred in the BBC mini series, And Then There Were None.Turner is now filming the second series of the hugely popular Poldark which will air in 2016 Show less «

I'm not an extravagant person. You don't get a chance to spend money when you're working on a TV sho...Show more »

I'm not an extravagant person. You don't get a chance to spend money when you're working on a TV show Show less «

In 'The Hobbit,' there were British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand actors, and Peter Jackson was...Show more »

In 'The Hobbit,' there were British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand actors, and Peter Jackson was adamant that we would all sound like we were from Britain somewhere. Show less «

Will McGregor, one of the directors on Poldark, sends me things, and he said, "You have to know this...Show more »

Will McGregor, one of the directors on Poldark, sends me things, and he said, "You have to know this is happening - your hair has its own Twitter account." That's outrageous. If I was an avid social media person, it would freak me out quite a bit. Show less «

I tend to not read... well, that's my party line anyway, that I don't read press. But it's hard beca...Show more »

I tend to not read... well, that's my party line anyway, that I don't read press. But it's hard because anywhere you go, you walk into a newsagent or a supermarket and you see that scything shot, with my top off. So that's weird. But nothing else has changed. There's a bit of activity with work, there's more scripts coming in and for the first time ever I feel like I'm in a real position of choice. I live in Dublin, where I don't get hassled, which is really nice. It changes slightly in London, but in Dublin I slip under the radar. Show less «

[On his hair in Poldark Series 1] My hair was that length. It's a lot shorter now so if we do go aga...Show more »

[On his hair in Poldark Series 1] My hair was that length. It's a lot shorter now so if we do go again for a second series I don't know what we're going to do. I'm going to have to start growing my hair really fast. No, that was all me. That was all Aidan Turner hair. I don't know whether I'm that proud of it but-I mean it looks a bit 'wiggy' sometimes-but I guarantee you it is all mine. Show less «

[On Eleanor Tomlinson, his co-star in Poldark] She's amazing. She's great. She's so cool. She's just...Show more »

[On Eleanor Tomlinson, his co-star in Poldark] She's amazing. She's great. She's so cool. She's just really laid-back, really gorgeous. Just so much fun. We had a lot of fun on set. I think we're quite similar in our natures. We're kind of, I don't know, we have similar sort of attributes I guess that work really well together. It helps a lot because ... if we didn't get on I think the audience might see it, so thankfully we're good friends. Show less «

I was really into films when I was younger but I feel like a bit of a phony sometimes - I started ac...Show more »

I was really into films when I was younger but I feel like a bit of a phony sometimes - I started acting because I didn't know what else to do. I filled in all these university application forms and honestly didn't want to do any of the courses. I spontaneously signed up to a part-time acting class at the same time. Then I did a full-time course, then went to drama school. When I started there I realized it's what I wanted to do. Being around committed people was very inspiring. Show less «

[Talking about Being Human] That's the life of an actor, you get so close to people for these kind o...Show more »

[Talking about Being Human] That's the life of an actor, you get so close to people for these kind of little snapshots in your life and these small moments and then they just sort of disappear and you move on to the next one and all you have is the memories, thank God. But no, "Being Human" is something I'm very proud of and I'm happy to have done. Show less «

[Remembering Warren Clarke] There's a day I remember very well-of course Warren Clarke [Charles Pold...Show more »

[Remembering Warren Clarke] There's a day I remember very well-of course Warren Clarke [Charles Poldark, Ross's uncle] passed very soon before the show ends-and there's a scene I remember where we're both sitting on the horse. I had food poisoning that day. And I remember Warren felt so sorry for me, but he just kept cracking jokes all day and doing impersonations of [beloved British comedian] Tommy Cooper and I couldn't help but laugh the whole way through. He knew exactly what would make me feel better. And there's a sense of sadness when I think about that day, as well, and that scene for obvious reasons. It was a really special few months, making Poldark. Show less «

On Poldark Series/Season 1 "When you're galloping across the moors on your horse you don't feel like...Show more »

On Poldark Series/Season 1 "When you're galloping across the moors on your horse you don't feel like one day there's going to be seven million people watching. I had no idea it was going to be received quite so well. I knew we had done a great show and I was proud of it, but I didn't know it would reach the mark that it did. So we're delighted." Show less «

[Talking about Poldark] There's probably five or six series in it if we go that far, if it stays goo...Show more »

[Talking about Poldark] There's probably five or six series in it if we go that far, if it stays good and people continue to watch it. In between, the desire to play different characters is obviously there. Show less «

[On meeting and working with Robin Ellis, the original Ross Poldark in 1975] He plays a small role i...Show more »

[On meeting and working with Robin Ellis, the original Ross Poldark in 1975] He plays a small role in the series. He plays Reverend Halse, a judge, a small but very important role. He's a great guy. I spent a few days with Robin and he's such a wonderful person, really lovely guy. There's one scene in particular where Ross stands up in court for Jim Carter, who's a close friend of his, a young lad whose been convicted actually of poaching. Robin Ellis is looking down his glasses at the end of his nose at me with a judge's cape and wig on and I remember there's one scene where I kind of lose it with him and I kind of call him out on what he's doing and he's unfair and he doesn't know what he's talking about and he's got to change his ways and blah, blah, blah and I march out of the court room. I remember walking back in after that first take and I was kind of a bit nervous because I'm screaming at Robin Ellis. When I walked back in he just lowered his glasses and winked at me and gave me a little thumbs up. I thought, "God, I'm getting the thumbs up from the original Poldark. This is amazing." That kind of helped me a lot. Show less «

[On filming Poldark in Cornwall] It was an amazing experience, we were so lucky. We spent about 10 w...Show more »

[On filming Poldark in Cornwall] It was an amazing experience, we were so lucky. We spent about 10 weeks there and we were all over Cornwall. There was a week we had a private, family owned beach to ourselves, in St. Alstal. They just gave it to us for the week while we got the best of the British summer. It was just so idyllic, the entire shoot, everything was just so stunning. We were saying on set, when this goes out, people aren't going to believe we shot it in the UK, they'll think we went to Florence or the South of France or something, because it was actually just too beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. You don't have to leave the British mainland to find that sort of Paradise Show less «

To make a career as an Irish actor, generally it's the case that you move to London. When you make t...Show more »

To make a career as an Irish actor, generally it's the case that you move to London. When you make that move, you do tend to stand out. Show less «

[on what films he likes] Spielberg as a kid but when I got a bit older there were loads more - the D...Show more »

[on what films he likes] Spielberg as a kid but when I got a bit older there were loads more - the Danny Boyle movies, the Irish guys Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan. My dad had a small part in Michael Collins, driving a vintage car. Show less «

I don't take myself that seriously. That's not to say I don't care about what I do, but I realize I'...Show more »

I don't take myself that seriously. That's not to say I don't care about what I do, but I realize I'm in a very privileged position, and it comes with the territory. It's not bad stuff. If women want to go, "Phwoar, look at Poldark, he's gorgeous and handsome, I'd love to take him home," well why should I feel offended? Show less «

Aidan Turner

Aidan Turner's FILMOGRAPHY

Aidan Turner'S roles

Feedback about this page?