Who is Aidan Turner and when did he become a household name?

The 39-year-old Irish actor’s first mainstream role was in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012. He played Kili the dwarf, alongside Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman. Turner went on to appear in two more films from the series - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013 and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 2014.

Despite this, it was the BBC’s adaptation of Poldark in 2015 that introduced me (and many others) to Turner. He played Ross Poldark until the fifth and final season in 2019. The series were based off the novels of the same title by Winston Graham.

Set between 1781-1801, the plot follows Ross as he returns to Cornwall after fighting in the American War of Independence in 1783. He finds his father has died, his estate is falling apart, and the love of his life is engaged to another.

I loved the series and watched it religiously every Sunday. It’s not all about love and loss though, it shines a light on the social issues going on in Cornwall at the time.

The series was popular, but it was one scything scene in 2016 that really grabbed the headlines as fans saw a sweaty topless Ross working hard in the fields…can’t image what people liked about it.

Funnily enough, the famous photo that turned him into a sex symbol wasn’t even supposed to be seen – it was a behind-the-scenes photo taken of him with a hair and makeup designer covering one of his tattoos. However, she ended up being Photoshopped out and the rest is history!

Since then Turner has been busy with ITV thriller ‘The Suspect’, he’s played Leonardo da Vinci, and just this month it was announced he’s in a Disney+ Jilly Cooper adaptation of ‘Rivals’ alongside David Tennant and Danny Dyer.

Currently (March 27) Poldark can be watched on Netflix and The Suspect is available on ITVX.

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons will be on at Theatre Royal Brighton from tomorrow (Tuesday, March 28) until Saturday (April 1).