Aidan Turner: All Clued Up

Aidan Turner as Kili in The Hobbit

How impressive is this?

Aidan Turner has made The New York Times crossword!

The crossword on 23 February, 2017 contained the clue: Actor Turner of "The Hobbit" (56 Across). The answer, of course, is "Aidan". Aidan played the dwarf Kili in The Hobbit trilogy, prior to starring in Poldark.

Hilary Stillman, a Poldarked reader who regularly does The New York Times crossword, brought the puzzle to my attention saying, 'This is a big deal, as a public person has to have a certain level of recognition to be used as a clue. I've done the puzzles for a long time and this is the first time I've seen Aidan Turner recognised in this way.'

It's certainly the coolest crossword clue I've seen!

Picture credit: xwordinfo.com

Many thanks to Hilary for sharing this story with Poldarked.

Please remember to mention Poldarked when reposting.

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

Debbie Horsfield on Offering Aidan Poldark

Aidan Turner in The Hobbit

Screen writer Debbie Horsfield talks about adapting the Poldark novels for TV and casting Aidan Turner as Ross and Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza  in an interview with BBC Radio Cornwall.

Debbie says that only The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey had come out when they approached Aidan to play Ross. Aidan was confirmed in the role around the time The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was released. Debbie went to see the film a couple of weeks after Aidan said 'yes' and couldn't believe that he was cast in a romantic role with the elf Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly).

The interview starts at 2hr 11 min.  Debbie starts to talks about Aidan and then Eleanor at 2hrs 18 min.  You can listen to it here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02jmmrc#auto

Aidan Turner at the BFI Poldark Q&A;

source: middle-earth news

Here's something I wrote for Middle-earth News earlier today:

If you love Aidan Turner as Kili in The Hobbit then you’ll want to know about his next big thing: playing the lead in the BBC drama Poldark.  

Poldark was a big hit on TV in the 1970s but 2015 brings a new adaptation of the novels.  Aidan plays Ross Poldark, a man who’s a bit of a hero, doesn’t back away from a fight and falls for a girl who’s taboo. Sounds familiar? But there the similarity with Kili ends, for Ross is an 18th century Englishman in this period drama set in Cornwall.

With Poldark about to hit our TV screens, Middle-earth News was invited to a preview screening of the first episode along with a Q & A with Aidan, his co-star Eleanor Tomlinson, screen writer Debbie Horsfield and director Ed Bazalgette. 

Aidan joked how he had never heard of Poldark before the offer came in. ‘I said, “what the f’s Poldark?” I had to Google it, then I called my mum and she said, ‘You’d better not mess this up’.”

Aidan then had a day to read the book before the first meeting. We all know that Aidan didn’t read The Hobbit before meeting Peter Jackson so I guess he didn’t want to make the same mistake again. He has since read more. He said, ‘How far do you go with something like that? I read the first four [of 12]…’ which he felt for him was enough to give him a feel for the characters and plot ’You could read more: I suppose you should …I’m not smart.’

Aidan, who is Irish, was offered the role without an audition so no one had heard his ‘Ross’ accent before the read-through. He said, ‘The read-through was terrifying … everyone hears your voice for the first time. That was particularly scary for me. I thought, “Oh S**t they’re going to fire me”’

Ross is given to moody stares. Had he practised his Poldark pout?

‘I pout [as Ross] quite a bit I’ve just realised. It’s natural - what I do… The eyebrows: they’re there for frowning. No. I really don’t think of those kind of things; they just seem to happen and they give themselves their own life. Like the hair. The hair was great.'

There were moments of teasing between Eleanor and Aidan. When she said her dog in Poldark was ‘amazing’ Aidan retorted, ‘He’s not amazing. He’s a dog’.

Eleanor got her own back when asked about a favourite moment:

‘Watching Aidan get a spray tan’

‘Oh there you go,’ responds Aidan to the laughter from the audience, ‘That just didn’t happen.’

You can find out more about Poldark on Poldarked and on Twitter @Poldarked and facebook 

Poldark  starts on BBC One in the UK on Sunday 8 March at 9 pm and in the US on PBS Masterpiece on 14 June. It will also be on ABC in Australia.

Don’t miss it!

Aidan Turner Says Poldark is out in Early March

Aidan Turner at the Dublin Premiere
Photo via Irish Independent

Aidan Turner, who plays Ross Poldark in the latest BBC adaptation of the Winston Graham Poldark novels, says the drama will be shown 'in early March'.
Speaking to the  Irish Independent Aidan said, 'It's coming out in early March. I was shooting it for six months and I'm excited to see how it goes. Fingers crossed it goes well.'

Aidan made the comments at the Dublin premiere of the final film in The Hobbit trilogy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,  in which he plays Kili the dwarf.  He also spoke of his next project, The Secret Scripture, which will be directed by Jim Sheridan and filmed in Ireland. The cast includes Jack Reynor, Eric Bana and Vanessa Redgrave and production will begin in January, 2015.

Win Aidan Turner's Bottle of Hobbit Wine

Source Middle-earth News

Here’s your chance to win Aidan Turner’s bottle of The Hobbit wine for just a 10 Euro raffle ticket!

The wine was given to Aidan by Peter Jackson when filming on The Hobbit wrapped. Aidan, who plays the dwarf Kili in the trilogy, has donated it to the Dingle International Film Festival to raise funds for their ninth festival which will take place 12 -15 March, 2015.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply enter the raffle here.

Tha raffle will be drawn on 12 December, 2014 to coincide with the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Here’s some information about the prize from Dingle International Film Festival

“The Hobbit Wine is in a presentation box crafted by the world-renowned Weta Workshop (winners of five Oscars and 4 BAFTAs). Weta Workshops have worked with Peter Jackson on The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy, The Adventures of Tintin and many more fantasy films.

“Only thirteen of these Hobbit Wines were made, one for each dwarf. One lucky person will be the only person in the world to own the wine given to KILI. The “Dorwinion Wine,” favoured by the Elves of Middle Earth, comes in a hand blown bottle with a paper label and wax seals on the front, a tag with Elvish writing is hung around the neck of the bottle. The bottle was packaged in a custom-made box, signed by the actor Aidan Turner, decorated with an image of the dragon Smaug and a Dwarven prop coin from Smaug’s hoard is attached to the sliding front box cover. This coin itself is very desirable as it was used in filming, and no screen-used props from The Hobbit have been released to the general public. The prize also includes a signed and framed photograph of Aidan as the dwarf KILI.”

All pictures via Dingle International Film Festival

Aidan Turner Talks to Okino

Photo via Okino

Aidan Turner talks to Okino in Ukriane about The Hobbit and Desperate Romantics.

I have just put the article through the translator and have posted it as it is,  hoping that.the gist is clear.

Okino: Do Kiely your character in "The Hobbit," a very interesting storyline of the entire trilogy. In the first film he's a warrior, in the second - in love. And what will happen to your hero in the third part?

Aidan Turner: I do not know. Honestly, I do not know. We certainly have seen a little footage, but not the entire movie. I do not know exactly how they want to reveal my character, what his emotions to be transmitted in a given scene, the scene can expand or cut during installation. And this is one of the great features of working with  Peter Jackson , who creates every second around you the whole world. Or create without you (laughs).

O:  I envy whether Keely other dwarves from "The Hobbit" because he, unlike his comrades, and did not go to the mountain with a dragon?

Aidan Turner: Though he did not go to the mountain, but in the third film of my hero will show a lot. He envies others? Perhaps, but it was not important in the image. More importantly, he has to be separated from other gnomes to part with them. Sometimes it is good to fight back from the pack and the total plot. In the first film, for example, tells who the gnomes, they are represented as a kind of brotherhood. But parting - it was good. Well, when your character is something stands out. "The Hobbit" because a small book, and Peter Jackson greatly embellished the story and shed light on the more serious topics, it was vital to make a full movie.

In the book, there is no line between love and Keely elf, and indeed, this character does not exist. I spoke with the actress who played her -Evangeline Lilly , and we both decided that the film needed a strong female character. All go to the movies, not all audiences - male. In the trilogy so many strong characters - elves, dwarves, and so on, that the heroine was a match for them is a must. Women in this film, in principle, a little bit. And it's a lot of courage on the part of Peter, that he decided to add a similar line in the plot, while respecting the spirit of the universe Tolkien.

-O: What are you most impressed by the set of "The Hobbit"?

Aidan Turner: That's what There is a misconception about "The Hobbit."When people are watching a movie, then think about it all done by computer graphics. But it is actually much less than believe. Location, nature - it's New Zealand, not props. She really looks so - excellent, incredible! Nature in the film seems unnatural, as if the graphics, but it's real. Waterfall, mountain peak - when you look at the screen, one thought: this is fake. But the fake landscapes just seem real. You will be shocked to learn that now, and what is not.

O: In New Zealand, if you happened to see the strange local fauna?

Aidan Turner: Well, we have in Ireland, of course, no kiwi birds, but "strange" I have not seen fauna. Orcs, elves, dragons - that was strange for me.Dragon, I would not even call it strange but incredibly creepy. Remember yasmotrel as Benedict Cumberbatch preparing his voice. In the studio there was a bed, and an actor on her squirming like a dragon. Amazing! And the voice of Benedict. You knew his voice in the film left virtually unchanged?It's amazing, he's very talented.

Photo via Okino

O: And you want to work on the sound system?

Aidan Turner: Yes, why not. To announce something in the style of cartoon Pixar - a good idea. When I have kids, maybe I'll look for just such a role. I would like to voice did not just a cartoon, but to give voice to some special character.

O: And what is the character?

Aidan Turner: I do not know. But the work, such as Pixar would be a major project for me.

- 

O: Let us recall another popular your role - the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the mini-series "Desperate romance." How did you prepare for the shooting? Read books, go to museums or ...?

Aidan Turner: And then, and more. For example, in the gallery "Tate" then walked exhibition of works by Rossetti. I have read everything that you could find on the subject. That helped, but there was a moment when I thought that here, done this kind of work, but how will it affect my acting performance for me as an artist? I love working Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelites in general, but did not know it will help me or not. Because you give us your remarks, you communicate with the director and other actors, to consider their opinions.

O: Do you think the character who you have turned, like a real Rossetti?

Aidan Turner: I do not know. I would not like to Rossetti were alive today, watched a movie and could tell that he was not as inspired not by what is shown on the screen, do not think about people and stuff. It would be hard to hear that. Actor has to offer his vision of real people. And the genre in which we have made ​​Desperate Romantics - this is not a literal biography Rossetti and others. We exercised the most creative group to convey the feelings of the writer, whose book series is based, in order to convey the romantic mood of the artistic movement, we could play with the chronology.But that's okay. Unlikely we treated disrespectfully to prototypes and real history.

Read the original article on Okino  here

Aidan Turner: The Best Sleeper

Looks like Aidan Turner's fellow The Hobbit actor Jed Brophy was right.

Jed named Aidan the best sleeper in an interview with jaimepaslactu saying, 'The one who slept the most was Aidan Turner. Always asleep. Had to wake-him up, and between takes all the time. He manages to sleep in awful lot. I think it’s cause he really likes the nightlife.'

And here is Aidan during the filming of the wrecking scene in Poldark living up to his reputation!

Photo Mike Thomas, Daily Mail 

Happy Birthday, Aidan Turner!

photo via EmpireOnLine

Happy Birthday, Aidan Turner!

Aidan is 31 today and is spending the day on the set of Poldark, a new BBC period drama in which he plays the lead character Ross. Aidan is aware he's stepping into to a well loved role with Ross but says, 'He has been done before. I haven't watched it. So I get to start all over again.'  In what is proving to be a busy year, Aidan is filming Poldark from now until September followed by, possibly, making the film Inferno and all topped off with the press junkets and premieres for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Not bad for a boy who left school with no notion of what he wanted to do!

Aidan was born in Clondalkin, South Dublin, in a house in which he lived throughout his childhood with his mum, dad, and brother. He says, ‘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, but I don't get to see it much now.’

He left school knowing he didn’t want to do anything ‘mundane’ and signed up for a six week ‘Acting for Camera’ course because he thought it looked ‘like a laugh.’ He says, ‘I did ballroom and Latin American dancing for about 10 years; I even represented Ireland. So I did have a flair for the creative.’ There may be more to it than that though for, when asked about any history of acting in his family he says, ‘I’m the break-out. Ours was an arts-friendly household,’ which may well be a reference to his grandmother, an amateur actress and stalwart of her local theatre group for many years. His grandmother also enjoys dancing and is no doubt pleased that Aidan lists Ballroom, Jive, Latin American, Salsa, and Tango among his dancing skills.

Aidan says, 'The "Acting for Camera" class was a game changer for me. The buzz of walking "on stage" …was a rush I hadn’t quite achieved through anything else up to that point in my life. And so naturally, I loved it.’

That buzz led to Aidan training at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. He graduated in 2004 and within a few weeks was jetting off to Portugal to shoot a couple of adverts for Irish television. Each ad took a day to film and must have been a great introduction to trying to look fresh and new take after take for, as the days progressed, the actors found it harder and harder to swallow the drink they were promoting, some spitting it out after each take!

Within his first year as an actor Aidan was performing at The Barbican, one of London’s top theatres, in The Plough and the Stars. There followed several years of acting both in fringe and mainstream theatre, as he went from the black vest and snakeskin trousers of the award winning Titus Andronicus (in which Sarah Greene, who is now his girlfriend, also appeared) to being suited and booted in Romeo and Juliet. In Cyrano, Aidan stole the show as Christian and was hailed by critics as 'The next James Bond'.

From 2007, Aidan began to get roles in television and film. He played the lead in the feature film Alarm which was released in 2008. Around this time Aidan was cast in the Irish television drama The Clinic and, playing the receptionist Ruairí McGowan, found himself nominated for Favourite Newcomer to Irish TV in the Now TV Awards 2009.

Then, ‘without the safety net of an actual job,’ Aidan moved to London, where he soon found work playing a vampire Mitchell in what was to become the award-winning BBC drama, Being Human.

More television roles followed. He played the artist Rossetti in Desperate Romantics (his audition tape for which was filmed by his friend and fellow Being Human actor Russell Tovey) and the cad John Schofield in the critically acclaimed biopic Hattie, in which another The Hobbit actor John Bell was also cast.

Aidan and his LEGO figure Photo Credit: Nicoletta Steiger

Aidan says of working on The Hobbit, ‘It was amazing, being flown out to the other side of the world, being part of the Peter Jackson experience. As Kili I’ve got my own Lego figure and I’m on a caramel latte cup in Germany. How did that happen?’

  

In 2014, the public voted Aidan best male newcomer in the Jameson Empire awards. While the category of newcomer may seem slightly incongruous, there’s no doubting his delight at winning and being able to share the evening with fellow The Hobbit actors Richard Armitage, Adam Brown, James Nesbitt and Stephen Fry. Commenting on his win Aidan blushed, ‘I had no idea I had this kind of support. It’s deeply humbling.’

In his free time Aidan loves playing pool and says he's 'completely obsessed' with it. He's even built a pool hall at his parent's home which he says is 'a proper man-cave'. He also plays tennis, squash and badminton but, although he learned to ride for The Hobbit, is unlikely to take up horse riding just yet saying, 'I don't know if they'll let me. If I injure myself on the job I'm fine but in my own personal time, I'll be killed! I'd never get away with it!'

On this his birthday we know that Poldark producers Mammoth Screen, along with with Aidan Turner Forever, are throwing him a surprise party on the Poldark set, so we hope he has a lot of fun. Here’s wishing Aidan a fabulous birthday from Poldarked.

With thanks to BBC News, Article Magazine, Irish Weekend and Gaiety School of Acting.

Aidan Turner: Fighting Talk

Poldark: BBC

Ross Poldark sometimes gets himself into scrapes and Aidan Turner, who plays Ross, is no stranger to a fight scene. We've got used to seeing Aidan as Kili in The Hobbit battle his way through two films and know he's become pretty skilful with a sword and bow. Of course, fighting on screen is something that is planned and learned but just because it's on a set doesn't mean it's not scary.

The Hobbit

The fighting in The Hobbit required some quite intense training as Steven McMichael, fight choreographer told me, "Every actor went through rigorous training at our Stunt Hanger Training Facility. Tim Wong would take all of the lead actors through a designed circuit training to get them in shape. As for the fight and weapons training, I created muscle memory fight sets and specific footwork pattern to help the appearance of the same skill level for the actors throughout the shoot. The shoot was so physically demanding that even shooting on set was a workout within itself."  

Being Human Photo: Huw John

Aidan comes to Poldark with some excellent training behind him and plenty of experience of filming fights on one of the biggest sets in the world, but things haven't always been so for him. Being Human, in which he played the vampire Mitchell, was a low budget drama and Aidan was relatively inexperienced in filming fight sequences for television so you can almost hear the excitement in his voice when he describes  to TV Choice this fight scene from series 3, " I did a scene where one take brought us into the kitchen and I was kicking the life out of one of the characters. We were up the stairs, in the kitchen, back upstairs, buttons were breaking, people getting pushed. It was like The Bourne Ultimatum! We were on wires and everything!"

All this is quite different from the Aidan of some 18 months earlier and a fight scene in Desperate Romantics. Asked about that Aidan told BBC Newsbeat, "Yeah, that was scary. I remember we only had one shot at the take, or two for some bizarre reason. He scared the life out of me, you can see it in the take. Thank God the camera doesn't go down a bit lower, I'd be absolutely shivering. That was scary. Stuff like that happens all the time...That fight in particular, it was mad."

Five years on and with a wealth of fight training and experience behind him I wonder how Aidan feels coming in to the fight scenes in Poldark?