Aidan Turner was too "afraid" to watch the original ‘Poldark’ series when filming the remake.
The 31-year-old actor plays lead character Captain Ross Poldark in the eight-episode BBC One drama but confessed the pressure to live up to the critically acclaimed original series, broadcast between 1975 and 1977, was too much, so he decided to avoid it.
He explained: "I decided not to watch the originals on DVD because I was afraid it would influence me in the wrong way. I had heard Robin Ellis’s performance was so good and I didn’t want to end up mimicking him, so I read the novels instead."
However, the handsome star was thrilled to secure the role, particularly because it meant he got to play a human, having previously acted as mythical creatures in TV drama ‘Being Human’ as well as ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ and ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy.
He confessed: "I don’t want more fantasy or supernatural stuff right now. In the past few years I’ve played a vampire, a werewolf and a dwarf and that was enough for me."
And while he has grown tired of the fantasy characters he has so frequently been cast as, Aidan is still pleased he became an actor because it opened his eyes to new literature.
He told Radio Times magazine: "I wasn’t super-academic so I didn’t apply for university, I didn’t want to learn a trade like my dad, so there were not a lot of options. It was a very working-class family – none of my relations are artists. Drama school opened doors to other worlds: literature, movies, plays. I discovered all these great Irish playwrights that I didn’t know existed and there they were, on my doorstep. It was a revelation."
Aidan Turner feeling Poldark pressure
