Awards and Critical Acclaim for Aidan Turner

It's been a great week for Aidan Turner. After wrapping on Poldark series 2 last week he has not only won the Breakthrough Award at the Broadcast Press Guild (BPG) Awards, he's also been nominated for an Irish Film and Television Academy Award (IFTA) for Best Lead Actor in Drama for Poldark and had rave reviews for his performance in And Then There Were None on the other side of the Atlantic as it screened in the USA.

Aidan Turner Photo: Barry McCall

Aidan in his Being Human days
Screencap, Poldarked

Nobody who first saw Aidan as the brooding and enigmatic Mitchell in Being Human will be surprised that he's getting this recognition. That was his first role on British TV and, even as a relatively inexperienced actor, his performance caught the eye of director, Peter Jackson enough to help land him a role in The Hobbit, as well as having a huge impact on the audience and critics. Toby Whithouse (Being Human writer) always said he knew Aidan was destined for greatness and at the time The Guardian said, 'Turner plays him (Mitchell) perfectly as a bohemian with hidden depths, an old man in a young body.'

Aidan went on to impress in The Hobbit movies. His character, Kili, had quite a bit of screen time compared to some other dwarves, so Peter Jackson was obviously impressed and Aidan won an Empire award for Best Newcomer in 2014 for his role in the second movie, The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug. Of course, he also won an Impact award at the National Television Awards for his role in Poldark back in January as well. The NTAs are voted for by the public, again highlighting his popularity with audiences. 

Aidan is Ross Poldark
Pic Radio Times

The BPG awards are voted for by television journalists, so a tough group to please. The award was for 'gaining a new level of success in 2015', which he most certainly did. Not only did Aidan win the Breakthrough award, he was also nominated for Best Actor, which in itself is an achievement, especially alongside the likes of Oscar winner, Mark Rylance and Jason Watkins, who won a BAFTA for the role he was nominated for. 

The IFTAs are Ireland's leading film and television awards, Ireland's equivalent of the British BATFAs, so it's a coup to get a nomination, especially in a country that produces a plethora of great actors. Aidan hasn't been nominated for an IFTA before, which underlines the impact his role in Poldark has had on his career. 

As Philip Lombard in And Then There Were None
Pic BBC

Aidan's performance in And Then There Were None was magnificent, and it seems we weren't the only ones who were impressed. The New York Times picked Aidan's performance as the 'stand out' along with that of Maeve Dermody, who played Vera. Variety were also impressed,
declaring: 'Turner does the best work of his career as an Irishman whose cynicism hides a fierce, rational intelligence, and his chemistry with Dermody leaps off the screen.' No mean feat to stand out in a cast as luminous as this one.

Good times for Aidan
pic Article Magazine

We're delighted to see Aidan getting the recognition he deserves as an actor and it's a joy to watch him develop in each role. We wish him all the best at the IFTAs and hope it leads to more great roles the small screen, big screen and on stage.



Aidan Turner talks about And Then There Were None
Aidan and Awards
Aidan's acceptance speech at the Jameson Empire Awards 2014