Aidan Turner

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title: "Aidan Turner" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1983-births", "21st-century-irish-male-actors", "irish-expatriates-in-england", "irish-male-film-actors", "irish-male-television-actors", "living-people", "people-from-clondalkin", "male-actors-from-county-dublin"] description: "Irish actor (born 1983)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidan_Turner" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Irish actor (born 1983) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Aidan Turner
image	Aidan_Turner_2013.jpg
caption	Turner in 2013
birth_date
birth_place	Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland
occupation	Actor
spouse
children	1
years_active	2005–present
::

| name = Aidan Turner | image = Aidan_Turner_2013.jpg | image_size = | caption = Turner in 2013 | birth_date = | birth_place = Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland | occupation = Actor | spouse = | children = 1 | years_active = 2005–present Aidan Turner (born 19 June 1983) is an Irish actor. He began his career in the RTÉ medical drama The Clinic (2008–2009) and the BBC series Desperate Romantics (2009). He later gained attention for co-starring as one of the main leads in the popular BBC Three series Being Human (2009–2011), and for playing the dwarf Kíli in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), before starring as Ross Poldark in Poldark (2015–2019).

Early life and education

Aidan Turner was born at home in Clondalkin, a suburban town of Dublin, on 19 June 1983. 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, where, he said, he "probably wasn't a great student".

Before becoming an actor, Turner was a successful ballroom dancer, once obtaining third place in the adult section of the Irish National Championships. After finishing secondary school, he 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.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Crichlow,_Turner,_Tovey,_Whithouse.jpg" caption="Being Human]]'' castmates [[Lenora Crichlow]] and [[Russell Tovey]], and creator [[Toby Whithouse]] (right) 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.

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 (2008).

Turner played the vampire John Mitchell on the supernatural drama programme Being Human during the first three series from 2009 to 2011, for which he received widespread praise. His role on Being Human brought Turner to the attention of Sir Peter Jackson, who cast him as the dwarf Kíli in The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014). In 2014, he won the Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer for the second film in the series, The Desolation of Smaug.

In 2013, Turner also portrayed shadowhunter-turned-werewolf Luke Garroway in the film adpation of Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments fantasy series. He acted opposite of Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Lena Headey, Robert Sheehan, and Jonathan Rhys.

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 performed the title role of Ross Poldark in the 2015 revival of the BBC series. At the National Television Awards ceremony in 2016, Turner was presented with the "Impact Award" for his performance in Poldark.

In 2021, Turner led the Italian series Leonardo, portraying the titular artist. He also had a role in the ITV police procedural The Suspect as Dr Joseph O'Loughlin.

Turner took on the role of Glenn Lapthorne, a professional tennis coach accused of sexually abusing his former underage protege (portrayed by Ella Lily Hyland), in the 2023 British drama Fifteen-Love.

In 2024, Turner had the leading role of Declan O'Hara in Disney+'s Rivals, an adaption of Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles. He starred alongside David Tennant, Victoria Smurfit, Alex Hassell, Bella Maclean, Nafessa Williams, Katherine Parkinson, and Danny Dyer.

Personal life

In 2017, Turner met actress Caitlin FitzGerald. He also bought an 18th-century house in East London that year. The couple married in August 2020; they have a child together, born in January 2022.

Filmography

::data[format=table title="Key"]

	Denotes projects that have not yet been released
::

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Sound of People	Father	Short film
Matterhorn	Theodoro
Porcelain	url=http://aidan-turner.com/career/filmography/porcelain	title=Porcelain (2007)	publisher=aidan-turner.com
2008	Alarm	Mal
2012	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	Kíli
2013	The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones	Luke Garroway
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug	Kíli
2014	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Kíli
2016	The Secret Scripture	Jack Conroy
2017	Loving Vincent	Boatman
2018	The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot	Young Calvin Barr
2019	Love Is Blind	Russell
		Saint Andrew	Post-production
		Unferth	Pre-production
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Tudors	Bedoli	Episode: "In Cold Blood"
2008–09	The Clinic	Ruairí McGowan	Main role, 18 episodes
2009	Desperate Romantics	Dante Gabriel Rossetti	Main role, 6 episodes
2009–11	Being Human	John Mitchell	Main role, 22 episodes
2010	Resonance	TT	Pilot
2011	Hattie	John Schofield	TV film
2015	And Then There Were None	Philip Lombard	Mini series
2015–2019	Poldark	Ross Poldark	Lead role
2021	Leonardo	Leonardo da Vinci
2022	The Suspect	Dr. Joseph O'Loughlin	Lead role
2023	Fifteen-Love	Glenn Lapthorne	Lead role
2024	Rivals	Declan O'Hara	Lead role
2025–present	The Diplomat	Callum Ellis	Recurring role
::

Theatre

::data[format=table] | Year | url=http://aidan-turner.com/career/theatre/ |title=Theatre |work=Aidan-turner.com |access-date=22 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224134825/http://aidan-turner.com/career/theatre/ |archive-date=24 December 2014 }} | Role | Theatre | Location | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2005 | The Plough and the Stars | Corp. Stoddard | Barbican Theatre | London, United Kingdom | | Suddenly Last Summer | | Focus Theatre | Dublin, Ireland | | | A Cry from Heaven | Ardan | Abbey Theatre | Dublin, Ireland | | | Yokohama Delegation | Hercules | Kilkenny Arts Festival | Kilkenny, Ireland | | | Titus Andronicus | Demetrius | Project Arts Theatre | Dublin, Ireland | | | 2006 | The Crock of Gold | Pan | Olympia Theatre On tour | Dublin, Ireland On tour | | 2006–2007 | Drive-by | | Cork Mid-Summer Festival Dublin Fringe Festival 2006 Canterbury Arts Festival 2007 | Cork, Ireland Dublin, Ireland Canterbury, United Kingdom | | 2007 | La Marea | | Bedrock Theatre Co/DTF | Dublin, Ireland | | Cyrano | Christian | Project Arts Centre | Dublin, Ireland | | | 2008 | Romeo and Juliet | Paris | Abbey Theatre | Dublin, Ireland | | 2018 | The Lieutenant of Inishmore | Padraic | Noël Coward Theatre | London, England | | 2023 | Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons | Oliver | Harold Pinter Theatre | London, England | ::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table]

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2011	SFX Awards	Best Sci-Fi or Fantasy Actor	Being Human
Sexiest Male
2012	Online Film & Television Association	Best Original Song	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
SFX Awards	Best Sci-Fi Actor	Being Human
Sexiest Male
2013	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2014	Empire Awards	Best Male Newcomer
CinEuphoria Awards	Best Ensemble
2015	Radio Times Champion	Drama Champion	Poldark
TV Choice Awards	Best Actor
2016	Broadcasting Press Guild Awards	Breakthrough Award	Poldark /
Best Actor
GQ Men of the Year	Best TV Actor	Poldark
Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in Lead Role
Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor in a TV Series-Drama
National Television Awards	Impact Award
Drama Performance
Radio Times Champion	Drama Champion
2017	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in Lead Role
TV Times Awards	Favourite Actor
TV Choice Awards	Best Actor
2018
Stage Debut Awards	Joe Allen Best West End Debut Award	The Lieutenant of Inishmore
2019	TV Choice Awards	Best Actor	Poldark
2023	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actor inn a Lead Role - Drama	The Suspect
Sichuan TV Festival	Best Actor in a Leading Role for a Television Series	Leonardo
::

References

References

1. "Aidan Turner Biography". TV.com.
2. "Aidan Turner Date of Birth". BuddyTV.com.
3. McMenamy, Emma. (12 September 2016). "Poldark star Aidan Turner's incredible journey from dance sensation to international acting star".
4. Harrington, Katy. (1 September 2016). "Aidan Turner: 'It would be embarrassing if Poldark bombed'".
5. Tate, Gabriel. (2 March 2015). "'Being a sex symbol is a little awkward' – Aidan Turner on his rise to fame, and redefining Poldark". [[Irish Independent]].
6. Anna Pukas. (16 March 2015). "Aidan Turner reveals his feelings about new show Poldark". [[Daily Express]].
7. Gordon, Bryony. (27 November 2015). "Aidan Turner: 'I don't want to play it safe'". The Telegraph.
8. "Aidan Turner". LisaRichards.ie.
9. "Irish People and Celebrity Central – Aidan Turner". Irishcentral.com.
10. Ward, Rachel. (29 December 2015). "Aidan Turner: his life and work". The Telegraph.
11. (26 April 2007). "hooting Wraps on 'Porcelain'".
12. "John Mitchell (Aidan Turner)". BBCAmerica.com.
13. "The Clinic Character Bio". Raidió Teilifís Éireann.
14. Walton, James. (24 July 2009). "Desperate Romantics (BBC Two): TV Review". The Daily Telegraph.
15. "Desperate Romantics". BBC.
16. Dempster, Sarah. (22 July 2009). "A date with Desperate Romantics". The Guardian.
17. "Aidan Turner Filmography". Reelz.com.
18. "featured cast". MSN.
19. (September 2019). "'Being Human's Aidan Turner Won't Let Other Vamps Stand in His Way". XfinityTV.comcast.net.
20. "Being Human [TV Series] Cast and Crew". Fandango.com.
21. "'Being Human' creator Toby Whithouse on the shocking finale – Exclusive".
22. (21 January 2011). "'Being Human' Week: Q&A with Aidan Turner". Digital Spy.
23. (10 August 2010). "Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow and Sinead Keenan Interview Being Human". Collider.com.
24. (7 February 2011). "The Hobbit Starts Filming Next Month". FilmBuffOnline.com.
25. (2014). "Aidan Turner filmography". [[The New York Times]].
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27. "One: And then there were none". BBC.
28. (6 March 2015). "Brushing up for Poldark's return: Irish actor Aidan Turner gets his tan topped up by an assistant". evoke.ie.
29. (21 June 2015). "It took a lot of work: Aidan's Poldark co-star reveals how he got those abs". evoke.ie.
30. (2016-01-21). "VIDEO & PICS: 'Poldark' star Aidan Turner happy but baffled by Impact Award win at NTAs".
31. McIver, Brian. (15 April 2021). "'Leonardo': Poldark's Aidan Turner takes on Da Vinci in Amazon's new period drama". AOL.
32. Metz, Nina. (2024-08-21). "'Fifteen-Love' review: A he said-she said thriller set in the world of professional tennis".
33. Mangan, Lucy. (2023-07-21). "Fifteen-Love review – the acting in this impeccably tense drama is absolutely mesmerising". The Guardian.
34. Grebenyuk, Yana. (2024-12-02). "Rivals' Aidan Turner Teases Season 2: Declan, Cameron's Future, More".
35. Yossman, K. J.. (2024-12-04). "'Rivals' Renewed for Season 2 at Disney+ and Hulu".
36. Conti, Samantha. (1 August 2017). "Pole Position: 'Poldark's' Aidan Turner on Stage, Screen — and Ross".
37. Curtis, Nick. (8 February 2023). "Aidan Turner on his new West End show Lemons Lemons Lemons... and returning to Poldark (or not)". Evening Standard.
38. (2022-09-07). "The Suspect's Aidan Turner reveals details on intimate Italian wedding".
39. (13 August 2022). "Family man Aidan Turner on focusing on the most important things".
40. "Porcelain (2007)". aidan-turner.com.
41. "Porcelain Movie Trailer – Aidan Turner". firstpost.com.
42. (26 September 2019). "'The Hobbit' & 'Poldark' Star Aidan Turner Joins Terrence Malick's Under-The-Radar Life Of Christ Movie". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
43. (10 May 2024). "Jeff Bridges, Dave Bautista to Star in Live-Action Monster Movie 'Grendel' from Jim Henson Company". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
44. "ITV has commissioned gripping, nail-biting thriller, The Suspect, starring Aidan Turner".
45. Ravindran, Manori. (4 August 2022). "Poldark's' Aidan Turner, Ella Lily Hyland Lead #MeToo Tennis Drama 'Fifteen-Love' for Amazon Prime Video (EXCLUSIVE)".
46. (March 21, 2023). "Victoria Smurfit and Aidan Turner star in adaptation of racy Jilly Cooper novel".
47. "Theatre". Aidan-turner.com.
48. "The WFB Gazette – Results of SFX Awards 2011". Thewinchesterfamilybusiness.com.
49. SFX Magazin (2011): WINNER! Best Sci-Fi Actor. Edition: April 2011. S.94
50. (25 September 2010). "'SFX Sci-Fi Awards 2011' adayları belli oldu!". derinkirmizi.blogspot.de.
51. "SFX Awards 2012". Doctorwhonews.net.
52. "Aidan And Being Human Nominated For SFX SciFi Awards". Aidan-turner.com.
53. (31 March 2014). "Jameson Empire Awards 2014: Best Male Newcomer - Aidan Turner {{!}} Empire Magazine".
54. "CinEuphoria Awards (2014)".
55. "Poldark's Aidan Turner wins Radio Times Drama Champion title for second year running".
56. Macro, Jen. (11 March 2016). "BBC successes at 42nd Broadcasting Press Guild Awards".
57. Bulkley, Kate. (2016-02-11). "BPG Awards 2016 – Television nominations".
58. (6 September 2016). "Poldark Star Aidan Turner Wins TV Actor of the Year {{!}} Men of the Year Awards 2016 {{!}} British GQ".
59. "Irish Film & Television Academy {{!}} Irish Film & Television Awards".
60. Nordicdrama. (2016-04-12). "Maniac And Trapped Nominated For Nymphe d'Or".
61. (27 April 2016). "NTA 2016 Backstage Aidan Turner With his Impact Award".
62. Seale, Jack. (2016-01-20). "The National Television Awards 2016: who should win?". The Guardian.
63. "Poldark's Aidan Turner wins Radio Times Drama Champion title for second year running".
64. "IFTA Academy {{!}} Irish Film & Television Academy {{!}} Irish Film & Television Awards".
65. Binding, Lucia. (2016-10-11). "National Television Awards 2017: Jenna Coleman up against Aidan Turner and Tom Hiddleston".
66. (2023-07-06). "Winners 2017".
67. (2023-07-06). "Winners 2018".
68. "The Stage Debut Awards".
69. (2023-07-06). "YOUR 2019 WINNERS".
70. "2023 IFTA Nominees Announced".
71. "Sichuan TV Festival (2023)".

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