Biography of Aidan Turner
Aidan Turner is an Irish actor who has become popular relatively recently and mainly due to the role of the dwarf Kili in the film trilogy “The Hobbit”, based on the book “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” by British writer John R.R. Tolkien – the author of The Lord of the Rings and other works in the genre of so-called high fantasy.
Turner’s birth and early theatrical work
Aidan was born in 1983 in the suburb of Clondolkin, located in the county of South Dublin, Ireland (province of Leinster). He attended The Gaiety School of Acting, from which he graduated in 2004.
Since graduating, he has acted in several theatrical plays, including William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, Irish playwright Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars, and Vincent Woods’ new work A Cry from Heaven. heaven”).
Aidan Turner and other actors of the film The Hobbit
The interest in cinema for today’s rising star stemmed from his work at United Cinemas International, which manages a chain of cinemas in the UK.
The first roles of Aidan Turner
The young actor’s television career began in 2007 by shooting in the historical series The Tudors, which tells about the reign of the English monarch Henry VIII, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Turner got a more modest role – the Italian Bedoli.
The filming of the television series, which subsequently received the highest (for three years) rating according to the premium channel Showtime, took place in Ireland, was large-scale and interesting. As a result, the Tudors won 37 awards.
Later, in 2008 and 2009, Turner appeared on television in the image of Rueary McGowan in the TV series “Clinic” and in one of the main roles – vampire John Mitchell – in the first three episodes of the television series “Being Human”. Regarding his 118-year-old hero, Aidan noted that he would like to be just like him – calm and unflappable. And quite in his spirit, he declared that he was not looking for the truth somewhere nearby, because he was sure that it was not there.
Filmography of Aidan Turner
In 2007, Aidan also made his film debut in the short film The Sound of People about an eighteen-year-old boy standing between life and death, and in a beautiful short film that coincides in name with a mountain in the Alps, Matterhorn, where Aidan plays a young doctor, a patient who dies with longing for an unfulfilled dream. In 2008, with the participation of Turner, the Irish thriller Alarm was released.
Aidan Turner in Desperate Romantics
A significant role in the professional development of a talented actor was played by his employment in the melodramatic British series Desperate Romantics, where Turner played the artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the prominent Pre-Raphaelites – people of art who considered themselves adherents of the traditions of the era “before Raphael”.
The success of the embodiment of the image of the painter was facilitated by the serious approach of Aidan to the preparation for filming – he spent a lot of time in London’s Tate gallery, where Rossetti’s works were exhibited at that time. Turner also read everything he could find about that time and the art movement. He noted in his interviews that he likes the work of Rosseti and other Pre-Raphaelites – Brown, Hunt, Morris. Therefore, while working on the picture, he tried as best as possible to convey the feelings and moods of his real prototype, although he also enjoyed the right to a creative approach and his own vision, since the series does not belong to the genre of purely biographical paintings.
Aidan Turner in The Hobbit
Aidan does not sit at home waiting for interesting offers, but, like most representatives of the acting profession, he constantly goes to auditions. To get a role in The Hobbit, the actor’s agent sent the film’s director, Peter Jackson, a recording of Turner to listen to. Six months later, Turner personally met with Jackson in London. And a month later he was informed that he was approved for the role of the dwarf Kili.
Aidan Turner as Keely
Turner was not a fan of fantasy before the film, and the book by J.R.R. Tolkien, based on which the film trilogy was filmed, I have not read. Preparation for the role, in addition to the director’s requirement to read the original story, included strength training in the gym, the practice of fencing with swords, the development of plasticity, reactions, and the improvement of intermuscular coordination of movements. The actor admitted that for more than three months, on the advice of a coach, he even slept with his sword. As a result, he achieved what was required – he was able to feel the weapon with a part of his body, an extension of his hand.
Turner’s colleagues on the screen adaptation of The Hobbit, which took place in New Zealand, were such famous actors as Martin Freeman (Dr. Watson from the TV series Sherlock), Ian McKellen (Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings) and Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth I from the film “Elizabeth”). Aidan, next to more experienced partners, played at a decent level. But he admitted that the final scene of death was difficult for him to perform, and terribly exhausted him – mentally and physically.
Many viewers who watched the movie were sure that the wonderful environment of the characters was created using computer graphics. But in fact, most of the landscapes actually exist on one of the New Zealand farms. And even after the chic sets were removed at the end of the filming process, the created village of Hobbiton looks fabulously beautiful. A new popular tourist route has even been opened here – to the places of the heroes of the films “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”.
Turner’s personal life
Aidan is single and has no children out of wedlock. He is not going to create a family yet, joking with the words that he is married to his work, and in general, he cannot imagine how it is possible to live with only one woman all his life when there are so many wonderful alternatives around.
Aidan Turner and Evangeline Lilly
As of September last year, Turner is dating British model Sarah Greene.
The actor admitted that he dreams of playing the role of Napoleon, despite his tall stature compared to the French emperor, and the Irish boxer Barry McGuigan, whom he is also unlikely to be lucky to play because of the inconsistency in appearance.
However, the actor does not slow down the pace of his ascent to the starry Olympus – this year the drama series “Poldark” with Aidan in the title role is expected to be released.