Aidan Turner said he was determined to get his latest role just right – because you don’t often see a lead character suffering with Parkinson’s.
The Clondalkin actor, 39, who played Ross Poldark in the BBC series, will star in new ITV thriller The Suspect. Aidan plays Doctor Joe O’Loughlin, who appears to have the perfect life but, after the death of a young woman and his diagnosis of early onset Parkinson’s, the truth begins to reveal itself.
He said: “I met a musician called Drew Hallam who was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s around five years ago when he was 35. Something struck me in one of the early conversations we had when he said how difficult it was when you’re young with this condition.
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“He said there are support groups but Parkinson’s doesn’t generally affect younger people. To speak with somebody so open and truthful about his experience was very beneficial.”
The actor told how they discussed how he would play the tremors in the scene. He said: “We wanted to keep the tremor subtle because Joe has been recently diagnosed, but enough for it to read on camera.
“Getting it right was important. Parkinson’s affects different people in different ways. We don’t often see a leading character who has Parkinson’s, so it was interesting to tackle that.”
Aidan said he made a “quick decision” to be involved with the series – which also features Bafta nominee Shaun Parkes, Fleabag’s Sian Clifford and Bobby Schofield from Time – after seeing the scripts. He added: “I was gripped. Joe is definitely a flawed character, which is interesting to play.”
- The Suspect starts on ITV on August 29 at 9pm.
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