Poldark is back, and Aidan Turner is well aware of the expectations that come with reviving a beloved character.
Aidan Turner breathes new life into an old character, but is stunned by the public reception
‘Expectations.” That word, and variations of it, came up often during a recent conversation with Aidan Turner. It made sense, though, for several reasons. One, Turner never anticipated the level of stardom he’s recently attained.
Two, the Irish actor never imagined that it would be the BBC drama Poldark that would become a Downton Abbey- esque phenomenon and propel him onto the international stage. Nonetheless, here he is.
“Expectations, game plans … they’re funny things,” Turner said, speaking by telephone from Manhattan, where he’s shooting Look Away, an indie feature co-starring Matthew Broderick, Chloe Sevigny and Benjamin Walker. “I still don’t have a game plan. I think they’re a little bit scary, sometimes, because, more likely than not, you don’t end up sticking to the plan, and then it all gets derailed and it throws you.
“And this business, it’s crazy,” he continued. “This time last year, I didn’t think I’d be having a conversation about this show that’s a big hit in the UK, about being in New York to do press for Poldark, and about doing this movie. But, you know, it’s what I like about this business, that one month from the next, generally, you don’t know where you’re going to be.
“Certainly, every six months it seems to change over,” Turner said. “And I like that uncertainty. I like that living by the seat of my pants. So there are still no expectations. I just follow the good writing — that’s what I do. I read the scripts and follow that talent and try to get in with those guys.”
Television viewers of a certain age will recall that the BBC first adapted Winston Graham’s Poldark novels into a series that ran for two seasons between 1975 and 1977. Robin Ellis starred as Ross Poldark, a British army officer who, soon after the end of America’s Revolutionary War, heads back to his family’s estate in Cornwall only to learn that everyone thought him dead. Worse, his father has died, his wealthy fiancee, Elizabeth, is about to wed his cousin and he himself is deep in debt. Over time Poldark regains his footing, re-establishes his family’s tin mines and marries the beautiful but penniless servant girl Demelza.
The new Poldark spins the same story. Turner, a 33-year-old best known for playing the dwarf warrior Kili in The Hobbit and the 117-year-old vampire John in Being Human, plays Poldark, joined by Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza and Heida Reed as Elizabeth. In a neat extended cameo, Robin Ellis appears in a couple of episodes as Reverend Halse.
Poldark debuted in the United Kingdom in March to rave reviews and blockbuster ratings, with as much attention paid to its leading man’s sturdy, earnest performance as to his swoon-worthy, chiselled and often-bare-chested physique. The show premiered last month in the United States.
“I know that the original ’70s adaptation was very popular,” Turner said. “I was very aware of that going into this, but it didn’t influence me at all. What we reference all the time is Winston Graham’s books. They were always the source material, those and Debbie Horsfield’s scripts for our show. They were both so strong.
“And I didn’t feel at all intimidated by playing such an iconic character,” he added. “What I didn’t expect was for Poldark to be the hit that it was. It was really quite a big deal in the UK, and I didn’t expect that at all. I knew the stories were great and that people wanted to see the show, but I had no idea that it would take off and that there’d be this Poldark hysteria.”
So why the hysteria? Turner can’t quite put a finger on it, though he cites several possible reasons.
“I played a vampire in Being Human a few years ago, and that was at the height of that Gothic-vampire genre’s popularity,” he said. “That’s faded away, and maybe we really are getting into romanticism now. Crime shows have been a big thing in the UK reality-based shows and gritty crime dramas, with drugs and kidnappings and all these things have been the rage, and we’re anti-that, really.
“We’re showing the southwest of the British countryside in all its glory. And the character of Ross, he’s a real hero. It’s a throwback to the romantic period British drama that the BBC do so well. So it could be that. Who knows why the show has taken off, but it has.
“I was quite surprised by it,” Turner admitted. “I didn’t expect it to be so popular, but the shows are really strong. I’m really proud of everything we’ve done with the show, and I’m ready to shoot Series 2 in September.”
Turner went on to praise Graham again, noting that the author created a fully formed character. According to Turner, Poldark isn’t simply benevolent, saintly and a Robin Hood character who helps the poor, though he is that and does that. Nonetheless, he’s human and more than a little complex.
“Ross is a mass of contradictions,” Turner said. “He slips kind of seamlessly through the working classes to the gentrified aristocracy. I think he’s a real person with real issues, and he has this strength. What I love about him is that his default position is to help people — but, at the same time, he has a real healthy disregard for the law. He plays by his own rules.
“He’s a real rebel, a bit of a badass, drinks a lot of brandy and then will jump up on a horse and gallop off.
“I love digging into him, because he’s not just this 2D, stereotypical heartthrobby guy.”
It doesn’t hurt that sparks fly every time Turner shares a scene with Tomlinson. A quick search of the internet reveals an abundance of Poldark-Demelza fan fiction and Tumblr pages. Turner chuckled at the mention of the fan fiction, but couldn’t deny the chemistry between him and the fairskinned, flame-haired Tomlinson.
“You can’t create chemistry, necessarily,” the actor said, “but when it happens, it’s great. I remember Eleanor came in for the audition and, almost from the very first few lines she spoke as Demelza, I thought, ‘This is the girl’. It really was one of those moments where you think, ‘She’s the one. She nailed it.’
“Plus we just get on very well together and work so well together,” he said. “I don’t know what more to say. Some things work and some things don’t, and
this works.”
He’s a real rebel, a bit of a badass, drinks a lot of brandy and then will jump up on a horse and gallop off
AIDAN TURNER