Aidan Turner


Aidan Turner is an Irish actor. He played the roles of Ross Poldark in the 2015–2019 BBC adaptation of The Poldark Novels by Winston Graham, Dante Gabriel Rossetti in Desperate Romantics, Ruairí McGowan in The Clinic, and John Mitchell in the supernatural drama series Being Human. He played Kíli in The Hobbit film series.

Early life

Turner was born at home in Clondalkin, a suburban town of Dublin, Ireland. The family moved later to Walkinstown. Turner attended secondary school at St Mac Dara's Community College in Templeogue before leaving to join his older brother at Firhouse Community College. Turner has stated: “I probably wasn’t a great student. I had a car when I was 17, so I used to just run out of school when I could, jump in the car and go play pool in Tallaght. I don’t know how I knew, but I convinced myself that my results were never going to matter to me."
After finishing secondary school, Turner briefly worked as an apprentice electrician, alongside his father. After he saw a notice up in Dublin's Gaiety School of Acting, and having become interested in acting while working in a cinema, he applied. He graduated from the Gaiety School of Acting in 2004.

Career

After graduating, Turner appeared in several theatre plays, including The Plough and the Stars, Romeo and Juliet, and A Cry from Heaven.
and Russell Tovey, and creator Toby Whithouse in 2009
Turner's television acting career began in 2007 with an uncredited appearance on the first episode of The Tudors. In the same year he produced and starred in the film Porcelain, directed by Gavin Cleland, which was shot in a convent in Dublin. However only a trailer of the movie was ever released. Between 2008 and 2009, he appeared in a recurring role on The Clinic. Appearing in 18 episodes as Ruairí McGowan, he followed The Clinic with a BBC production, Desperate Romantics. He portrayed Dante Gabriel Rossetti in all six episodes of the show, which aired in 2009. Turner played the vampire John Mitchell on the supernatural drama programme Being Human during the first three series from 2009 to 2011.
His film career began with two short films, The Sound of People and Matterhorn, both in 2007. He later played Mal in the thriller feature film Alarm.
His role on Being Human brought Turner to the attention of Peter Jackson, who cast him as the dwarf Kíli in The Hobbit trilogy. In 2014, he won the Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer for the second film in the series, The Desolation of Smaug, which had been released the previous year. In 2013, he also played shadowhunter-turned-werewolf Luke Garroway in .
In the 2015 BBC TV miniseries And Then There Were None, based on the Agatha Christie novel, he plays the cynical mercenary Philip Lombard.
Turner performs the title role of Ross Poldark in the 2015 revival of the BBC series Poldark. At the National Television Awards ceremony in 2016, Turner was presented with the "Impact Award" for his performance in Poldark.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2011SFX AwardsBest Sci-Fi ActorBeing Human
2011SFX AwardsSexiest MaleBeing Human
2012Online Film & Television AssociationBest Original Song Shared with cast'
2012SFX AwardsBest Sci-Fi ActorBeing Human
2012SFX AwardsSexiest MaleBeing Human
2013SFX AwardsSexiest Male'
2014Empire AwardsBest Male Newcomer
2015Radio Times ChampionDrama ChampionPoldark
2015TV Choice AwardsBest ActorPoldark
2016Broadcasting Press Guild AwardsBreakthrough AwardPoldark – And Then There Were None
2016GQ Men of the YearBest TV ActorPoldark
2016Irish Film and Television AwardsBest Actor in Lead RolePoldark
2016Monte-Carlo Television FestivalOutstanding Actor in a TV Series-DramaPoldark
2016National Television AwardsImpact AwardPoldark
2016National Television AwardsDrama PerformancePoldark
2016Radio Times ChampionDrama ChampionPoldark
2017Irish Film and Television AwardsBest Actor in Lead RolePoldark
2017Radio Times ChampionDrama ChampionPoldark
2018Stage Debut AwardsJoe Allen Best West End Debut AwardThe Lieutenant of Inishmore