When the outstanding Irish actor Aidan Turner makes his presence known anywhere, be it film, television, stage, or even in the flesh, heads turn from near and far and he immediately commands your attention. "His charisma is "effortlessly cool", co-star Russell Tovey once said. His talent as a performer is unparalled in his generation of actors and almost addicting. He leaves you wanting to see more and more in everything he puts his talented hands into.

 

            Aidan Turner made his mark and blasted onto the scene, stimulating the public with his breakout performance as John Mitchell, the cool, clever and devilishly gorgeous vampire in the outstanding BBC series "Being Human". Since then, his career has exploded with landing the role as the spirited dwarf, Kili, in Peter Jackson's iconic "Hobbit" films and his most recent success as the noble and physically ravishing Ross Poldark, the leading role of BBC's "Poldark" series.

 

                 Aidan is genuine with a very easy to like personality. It is quite refreshing these days to see a person in the entertainment field who is so pragmatic and down to earth. He has this monumental friendly and cheerful disposition about him, topped with a splendid sense of humor. His humbleness is very commendable in an age where ego is king. This is just one of the many qualities that draws the masses in and is what makes
Aidan very unique. His subtle charm, his rugged good looks and mostly his ability to envelop the characters he chooses to play, really convincing us they are real, three dimensional, living breathing people. He just doesn't deliver his lines, he makes us feel them. While we may not always agree with the his characters , we will surely understand them. That is what makes Aidan Turner a tremendously gifted actor. He can take you from friendly and fun to downright dark and manacing and we believe him every step of the way. We certainly haven't seen an actor of this magnitude emerge from the scene in
nearly a decade. He has even captured and won the esteemed best newcomer award
at the 2014 Jameson Empire Awards in the UK and also won 2015 Special Impact
award from the National Television Awards for his unforgettable portayal as Ross
Poldark of the UK Poldark series. Wherever Aidan goes, people are surely following.

                   

          It's Interesting to know of Aidan Turner's beginnings. How it all started for the Irish actor. His story begins when he was born in a place called Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland on June 19th,1983. Aidan revealed in an interview “I was born in a place called Cherrywood Grove. I was born in that house, in that living room. I spent 20 years in that house and it's very close to my heart,” His parents Pearse and Eileen were working class citizens. Pearse being an electrician and Eileen an accountant. Interestingly enough, the Turner household was "arts friendly". Pearse had actually aquired the small part as an
extra, driving a vintage car in the 1990 film Michael Collins starring Liam Neeson.
There's no way of telling if that could have been a key moment in igniting the acting
flame for young Aidan or not, but its a good place to start, in what would be his history
to come. 

 

          It could be said that Aidan's love for film actually began when he took his first job at the local cinema. Aidan explains, "My first Saturday job, when I was 16, was at the UCI Cinema complex in Tallaght. I worked there as an usher, and on the concession stand. I’ve got this intense memory of the smell of stale popcorn in an empty theatre on a
Monday morning." He goes on, "I loved that job. I’d just go in, clean up and check whether the film reel was projected properly. You’re meant to check for two minutes and walk back out, and I’d be 20 minutes into the movie, sitting there eating popcorn...maybe that was a sign”. Although he reckons that, if you’d told him then that, one day, he’d be up on the screen he “would never have believed it. Not a chance”. 

 

          With hard working parents, it was instilled in Aidan to have the foundation of a solid career behind him to make a living . He was told particularly by his mother that if he was going to have to work for the rest of his life, that he might as well choose something he would like to do. But Aidan found it extremely difficult in choosing a direction. In Aidan's own words he tells us "For me, acting was a kind of a default career because I had no clue what to do when I left school. 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 didn't want to do a normal job. I just kind of deduced what I couldn't do and that was kind of everything. I couldn't really get into music cause I can't sing and I tried to learn guitar but because I can't sing it bothered me so that was music out. And anything else I couldn't get my head around, I'm not very academic, I just get bored really easily."

 

              So, while Aidan was attending St. Mac Dara’s Community College and becoming more and more disillusioned and discouraged that he would never find a career that was to his liking. It was at eighteen years of age, he stumbled upon an advertisement that would change his life forever, though he didn't believe it at all when he found it. "I remember walking by the Gaiety School in Temple Bar in Dublin and they were advertising a 6-week “Acting for Film” course. I thought, well, that looks like a laugh, and that’s all it was for me initially. I was really starting from scratch — I didn’t know how to read Shakespeare, any of that. It was so embarrassing, when I look back on it. I went to
acting classes and again it just scared me, it was really scary doing it. Learning lines
and getting up in front of your peers and people and doing a scene you get
embarrassed and once you get over that you grow in confidence and I was actually
quite a shy kid believe it or not. But then the fun became challenging, then rewarding,
then inspiring, you know, reading Brecht and Oscar Wilde and going to see plays.
When I started there I realised it’s what I wanted to do. Being around committed people
was very inspiring for me, acting was a kind of default career."

 

            Now Aidan had finally found his path. But he still needed to have a job with some income while he attended The Gaiety School of Acting. So, he took a job bartending at the well known Irish nightclub, "Lillie's Bordello." Aidan tells the story: “I actually used to work there. It’s a nightclub on Grafton Street, and I tended bar to support myself while I did my acting courses. I thought I was Tom Cruise in Cocktail, even though I couldn’t pull a pint when I started. It was probably the first real acting lesson I got - mix the Martinis, juggle the shakers, look the part of a mixologist, blag and blag and blag, and
eventually you assume the role. I actually got really good.” That being said, actor Tom
Cruise was obviously a big inspiration of Aidan's. When previously asked, Who would
play you in the movie adaptation of your life? He chose Tom Cruise. "I'm sure he'd flat
out refuse to shoot some of the situations I've allowed myself get in to over the years
but it would be fun. For me." Later on in 2014, Aidan had the chance to fulfill a personal
dream of his, when he bumped into Cruise himself on the red carpet while signing
autographs for fans at the recent Empire Awards in the UK. Aidan's response at
meeting one of his matinee idols was nothing short of estatic.
 

            Aidan graduated from Ireland's prestigious Gaiety School of Acting, with a diploma, in 2004. Upon graduating, he also participated in the short play "Nightshift" alongside his fellow classmate Paul Reid which was commisioned for the Gaiety school's
graduation show itself. Also in that same year Aidan began accumulating some credits
to add to his acting resume such as the short film "Reggie Rules", Two Irish television commercials for the "Fruice" product and the theatre production "Suddenly Last Summer" in which he played the character of "Dr. Sugar"
 

Since then, he has appeared as Corp. Stoddard in the Abbey Theatre’s production of The Plough and the Stars, as Ardan in Vincent Woods’ play A Cry from Heaven directed by Olivier Py, as Hercules in Yokohama Delegation directed by Jo Mangan, as Demetrius in Titus Andronicus directed by Selina Cartmell and  as Pan in Storytellers production of The Crock of Gold. Aidan also appeared in Drive-by directed by Jo Mangan in 2006 to 2007 and more recently appeared in La Marea directed by Mariano Pennsotti in 2007 and Cyrano, as Christian directed by Vernonica Coburn.

​

         His television and Films include: The Clinic, and The Tudors which aired in the US in early 2007 and on BBC2 in Autumn 2007. Aidan will soon appear in the leading role of Kevin in the independant feature film Porcelain directed by Gavin Cleland for Bedoli Films. He recently appeared as Paris in Romeo and Juliet directed by Jason Byrne at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.

         Aidan appeared in the leading role of Mal in Alarm an independent feature film written and directed by Gerard Stembridge for Venus Films and on general release in cinemas across Ireland.

Aidan appeared on RTE 1 as the new series regular Ruairi in Season 6 of The Clinic for Parallel Films/RTE and returned as this character later in 2009 for Season 7.

 

        Aidan first appeared in the leading role of Mitchell in the hit series Being Human on BBC3 (repeated on BBC1) in 2008 and went on to appear in the leading role of Rosetti in the new mini-series Desperate Romantics which was shown on BBC2 in the same year. Aidan has since appeared in Season Two of Being Human on BBC3 (2009) and Season Three in 2010 which has just been nominated for a BAFTA (the second BAFTA nomination for this show) and which won an RTS and Writers Guild Award in 2009. He recently appeared in the role of John Schofield in Hattie a new TV movie for BBC4 which received huge critical acclaim and record ratings for that channel.*

 

         Aidan has appeared as the role of Kili in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey directed by Peter Jackson, which has had a very successful international theatre release. Later  followed The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug  and The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies .  Along the way, he also played the role of Luke Garroway in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which was released in 2013. and more recently had a part in the upcoming film The Secret Scripture, staring Rooney Mara.

 

          Aidan is currently having tremendous success with his latest role as Ross Poldark for the BBC One television series  Poldark. Talks of filming a second series for the show are underway.

 

 

       While Aidan Turner's career has just attained lift off, we believe it is only the beginning. Aidan has just begun to scratch the surface of what he can achieve as an actor. it will be interesting to see what roads he will take us all on. Turner’s rise to fame was slow but steady he says. “From where I’m sitting in the driver’s seat it doesn’t feel as whirlwind and as crazy. I left the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin in 2004 and I did five years of theater after that (including major roles at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre), “So it feels more gradual to me since moving on to Being Human and all the other stuff I did with the BBC and Showtime. It was a slow enough climb.” One thing is for sure, as long as Aidan is in the driver's seat, you will be sure to enjoy all the twists and turns of the ride every step of the way.

 

 

 

Biography written and arranged by Vision Sisters