Did you get to read all the scripts?
AIDAN TURNER: You want to, but no is the answer.
I wasnt so much.
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They said, Can we send you this?
And then, I got more scripts.
It went along those lines.They thought of me early, which was quite nice.
I wasnt an afterthought, which I wouldnt mind either.
Its an interesting series because it starts off in a big way.
TURNER: Its interesting that you say that.
I remember reading the first episode and just getting a sense of how well-rounded all the characters were.
There was no cause for that, at all.
I think thats a real testament to Jillys writing.
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Something she does really well is write very definitive characters.
‘Rivals’ talented ensemble cast includes David Tennant, Aidan Turner, and a scene-stealing Alex Hassell.
There are dual layers to this guy.
Theres the family man aspect, but then theres also this TV guy whos good at tearing people down.
Which side of him did you start with?
Did you start with the aspects of him you identified with most, and then work out from there?
How did you approach this guy?
TURNER: Thats interesting.
I dont know if Ive ever broken things up like that.
Theres something grounding about Declan that I didnt have to fight for.
Its just in me now.
I didnt have to reach so hard for it.
Its just who I am.
And of course, hes Irish, too.
Hes still around, but I remember my dad in the 80s and, particularly, in the 90s.
He had a big mustache like Declan.
you’re free to get all these different shows so easily on YouTube and different sources.
So, I just got a real sense of what these long-form interviews were like.
People really took their time.
They werent interrupted so much.
You really had to have your ducks in a row, and you were given this time to speak.
Declan does that, but hes also kind of revolutionary.
That all happened at the same time.
When youre drawing from your dad to play a character, do you tell him?
TURNER: I still havent told him.
I presume hell figure it out.
I think I dont wanna ever tell them and just see whether hell say something to me.
What do you most enjoy about Declan?
TURNER: Good question.
I think hes quite a serious guy.
Hes a journalist, and he would consider himself a serious journalist.
I think he wants to be out there.
Hes always chasing that feeling of recognition in his own community.
He says whats on his mind, and he says it loudly.
He also shoots from the hip.
Hes not arrogant, in that way.
He doesnt want to always sing from his own hymn sheet.
I quite like that about him, too.
There are lots of aspects of his character that I find interesting.
Its a very different thing.
He has his office.
There are different worlds.
TURNER: It was strange.
Its as tricky and complicated as you would imagine.
There was an earpiece, and the earpiece was working, and I was hearing things.
It was also a real build.
In our studio, where Cameron is and there are people up in the box, theyre really there.
I can see them and they can see me.
The set is amazing, actually.
And we used the real cameras the old BBC cameras from the 70s and 80s.
It felt very real.
Youd be surprised how much you know already from just watching so many interviews.
Weve all done it.
When its written well, and it was, it just trips off your tongue.
Its just lodged in there somewhere.
I stole from some more contemporary presenters and from some older presenters that werent around anymore.
I had no idea that it was so cutthroat.
In this, it feels like the success of a show is life or death.
TURNER: One hundred percent, but I totally believe it.
Its not this faux energy that were trying to drum up for our drama series.
This is independent television in 1986, and I believe it was like this.
And it was cutthroat.
If you didnt do the job well the next week, you might not be on television.
Thats the way TV worked.
Everyone was your best friend, until theyre not.
The Jilly Cooper novel answers some big questions!
What was it like to develop that little trio that you had with David Tennant and Nafessa Williams?
What was it like to figure out that dynamic?
TURNER: It felt quite real.
You see that in our show, and it is life or death for these people.
They either wanna be on television or behind it, and they wanna exist in this world.
Every character is either trying to improve the class, deny their class, or escape their class.
Everyones transactionally going, What can I get from somebody else?
And if I play this, what do I need to receive on this end?
How did we come up with that little trifecta?
You just play those things out.
You have this sense and this feeling.
Were all such definitive characters that it just flows.
It seemed very fun, but also very fast.
It felt like you had to just jump in, and it would either work or it wouldnt.
TURNER: It felt like that to shoot it, too.
Our show is pretty straightforward.
What was on camera was happening on set, too.
That energy was always there.
That fun was there.
That speed that we had to get things done was how it was on set.
Was it important to you that it was so vital to the storytelling and that it never felt disconnected?
TURNER: It didnt feel disconnected, and it didnt feel disconnected in the script either.
And compared to someone like Tony Baddingham and his wife, its different.
There are so many different types of relationships, in that way.
It read right to me.
It tracked when I read it.
You might pick up a film script and go, Why is this happening again?
Why do they specifically want this shot that theyre mentioning?
There was nothing about the scripts that felt gratuitous or superfluous or was something that we didnt need.
It felt right, and I think we were right on that.
What happens when a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost become roommates?
Its transactional with so many of the characters.
Its not that its not desired or wanted, but they wanna do something with it.
Theyre doing it to get something or to swap it for something.
Theres always a dynamic happening.
Its interesting to see it play out.
Its a bit like a Chekhov play.
Youre constantly going, Whats that character doing?
Whats that new relationship with this guy?
Have you noticed this look?
Are they doing something there?
Its the world thats created around that sexual energy that I think is really interesting.
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Cast
Rivalsis available to stream on Hulu.
Check out the trailer:
Watch on Hulu
