#relatable
Us shorties have our little tricks to look taller in photos and videos, like posing a certain way or tip-toeing inside our shoes, but Aidan Turner’s secret has us all beat. And it involves a horse.
The Poldark star spoke to Radio Times about cheating a few extra inches on the big screen, revealing that he’d actually been very particular about his character’s equine BFF. When given the choice between two horses, a big beefy lad called Jonny Wilkinson and another smaller boy called Seamus, he ended up making a decision based on which would make him look better on the show.
He said, ‘Initially, I preferred a horse called Jonny Wilkinson because he's a lot bigger and quite a goer. The two of us together made trainer Mark (Atkinson) quite nervous, so he persuaded me to go with Seamus.’
The Irish actor continued, ‘Cleverly, [Mark] said, 'You look great on Jonny, but you look better on Seamus - he's smaller, so he makes you look bigger.' I immediately switched horse!’
Aidan plays Captain Ross Poldark in the BBC1 period drama and spends an awful lot of time trotting around the countryside on Seamus, who’s become one of his rocks on set.
He said, ‘When you're filming with a horse and putting your life into his hands, you have to trust him and I completely trust Seamus. He is so experienced – his CV is probably better than mine! He's a big celebrity these days.’
It’s no surprise that Aidan’s conscious about the way he looks in the hit show, as many of the marketing materials feature him scything his way through fields - sweaty and topless. He was actually at the centre of a row when many people began criticising the BBC for objectifying him, much in the same way many other shows are promoted with women.
Executive producer Karen Thrussell said at the time, ‘In the novels Ross Poldark goes swimming quite a lot, and he doesn’t wear anything at all. We’ve been true to the books and the novels and we’ve also been quite modest.’
Series four of Poldark will air on BBC1 on 10th June at 9pm.
