Learn more about Aidan Turner's career ahead of 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses'

The Poldark and Rivals star makes his National Theatre debut in Christopher Hampton's masterpiece opposite Lesley Manville in 2026.

One of the most dashing actors of his generation, Aidan Turner immediately proved himself to be far more than a heartthrob with his emotionally intense performances and simmering presence on stage and screen.

Turner was born in 1983 in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, and learned about showmanship at early age as he achieved success as a competitive ballroom dancer in his youth. He began working as an apprentice electrician after leaving school and then applied to the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, from which he graduated in 2004.

Turner made his television debut in an uncredited role in The Tudors and appeared in 18 episodes of the Irish medical drama The Clinic. He first came to prominence in 2009 in the cult BBC Three hit Being Human, which blended horror, comedy, and social commentary. Turner played John Mitchell, a vampire attempting to live a “normal” life with his two flatmates, werewolf George (Russell Tovey) and ghost Annie (Lenora Crichlow). It was the perfect launchpad for Turner’s brooding persona and also provided numerous opportunities to showcase his flair for comedy.

In the same year that Being Human premiered, Turner starred in Desperate Romantics (also for the BBC), an irreverent romp about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He played painter, poet, and all-round hellraiser Dante Gabriel Rossetti alongside Samuel Barnett as John Everett Millais, Rafe Spall as William Holman Hunt, and Amy Manson as Elizabeth Siddal. It marked Turner out as an ideal leading man for costume drama.

Naturally, a part in a major franchise beckoned: Turner played Kíli, one of 13 dwarves led by Richard Armitage’s Thorin Oakenshield in all three instalments of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy released between 2012-14. The films were of course led Martin Freeman, currently starring in the West End in The Fifth Step, as Bilbo Baggins.

In 2015, Turner took on his most famous role to date as Ross Poldark in the BBC’s Poldark, a romantic saga set in late-18th-century Cornwall. Ross, a military veteran, mine owner, and eventual politician, has a strong social conscience and a tempestuous romantic life. Eleanor Tomlinson co-starred as Ross’s wife Demelza, with Heida Reed as his first love Elizabeth, Jack Farthing as his nemesis George Warleggan, and Kyle Soller as his cousin Francis. The Guardian commented that “in Ross Poldark, we have reached romantic hero nirvana”, and millions of viewers agreed. Turner received the Impact Award at the National Television Awards in 2016.

Turner has made further appearances in period drama as mercenary Philip Lombard in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and as a young Leonardo da Vinci in Leonardo. He has also acted in more contemporary fare: he played a clinical psychologist in the thriller The Suspect and a tennis coach accused of an inappropriate relationship with his protégé in the drama Fifteen-Love. Most recently, he starred as volatile journalist Declan O’Hara in Disney+’s steamy adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals and is set to return for the second series.

Turner is married to Caitlin FitzGerald, who will star as Desdemona in Othello alongside David Harewood and Toby Jones this autumn. Turner himself will return to the stage in 2026 in a revival of Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre. Read on to learn more about Turner’s theatre work.

Check back for tickets for Les Liaisons Dangereuses on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Early work (2005-08)

After graduating from drama school and prior to television stardom, Turner appeared in an eclectic array of productions in Ireland. His roles included the supporting part of Corporal Stoddard in The Plough and the Stars at London’s Barbican and Cork Opera House; the premiere of Vincent Woods’ Irish mythology-inspired play A Cry from Heaven at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, and Demetrius in Titus Andronicus and Paris in Romeo and Juliet. These varied productions were clearly an excellent training ground for the next stage of his career.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2018)

In 2018, Turner made his West End debut in a revival of Martin McDonagh’s blood-soaked, pitch-black comedy The Lieutenant of Inishmore directed by Michael Grandage. Turner played the demanding role of Mad Padraig, the leader of an Irish National Liberation Army splinter group, who is seeking revenge for the murder of his cat Wee Thomas. In a four-star review, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer observed that Turner was “no stunt casting, but a terrific young actor whose insinuating charm neatly offsets his deadly, deranged violence”.

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons (2023)

In the West End premiere of Sam Steiner’s quirky two-hander directed by Josie Rourke, Turner starred opposite Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, Victoria), another television favourite. The premise of this dystopian romcom is the implementation of the Quietness Act, decreeing that no one speaks more than 140 words each day.

In a four-star review, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer noted that “Coleman and Turner are a powerfully charismatic double act. Her Bernadette is whip-smart but defensive, using a chipper brightness to mask resentments. Turner creates an effective contrast with his looser, brashly charming but sometimes childish Oliver, who negs her when he’s feeling insecure”.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (2026)

In 2026, Turner returns to the 18th century, although this time it’s to the salons of pre-revolutionary France, rather than the rugged Cornish setting of Poldark. Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s 1782 scandalous novel was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1985 and has become a modern classic.

Turner plays the Vicomte de Valmont, a role created onstage by Alan Rickman and played by John Malkovich in the film. Valmont is a debauched rake who, with his former lover and rival Madame de Merteuil, uses sex as a cruel game of manipulation with which to corrupt the innocent. Olivier winner and Oscar nominee Lesley Manville, who originated the role of the innocent Cécile de Volages, graduates to the wicked Madame de Merteuil (the role created by Lindsay Duncan and immortalised by Glenn Close on screen).

The production is directed by the Olivier Award-winning Marianne Elliott (Company, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), marking her first production at the National Theatre since Angels in America in 2017. The cast also includes Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick). Few actors wear period costume as alluringly or convey smouldering sensuality as powerfully as Turner does. It looks set to be one of the classiest productions of 2026.

Check back for tickets to Les Liaisons Dangereuses on LondonTheatre.co.uk.