Aidan Turner, who plays effortlessly cool vampire Mitchell on Being Human (which begins airing July 25th on BBC America), says he was hooked on the first reading of the script for the show. "From the first episode it really works," he says. "It's a great premise, it's all in the title really -- it's very realistic situations and deals with tons of real issues. It's dark and witty -- Toby [Whithouse] is a fantastic writer."
What also appealed to Aidan was the sense of reality which shone through the characters and the story. "When tackling a supernatural subject, I sometimes find it difficult to invest in the characters because they dont' really exist -- but there's so much heart to this story, so much reality to it, it's easy to relate to the characters. Certainly George, Annie and Mitchell, because they are three normal guys, which is evident from the first episode. They're not flying around putting spells on people -- they work in the hospital, live in an apartment together, watch TV and go to clubs. I hope that people watching think, 'I'd like them to be my friend.' I think that's important."
For Aidan, the fact that Mitchell is a vampire was a big attraction to the role. "Everyone wants to play a vampire -- it's something I've always wanted to play. It's just one of those parts. Also, when you research into vampires there are all these cults around the world that are influenced by them one way or another, so that was a really interesting aspect to discover."
The fact that Mitchell is a vampire, and has therefore been around a long time, makes him a complicated character to play. As Aidan explains, "Mitchell is 118 years old and to play someone like that is brilliant. With his maturity he has a certain kind of responsibility and a worldly experience that not all people have. He's not bothered by a lot of things -- that side of him I aspire to be like."
Finally, Aidan believes that audiences will relate to Mitchell and his struggle. "Everyone has a dark side that they don't expose too often -- but when they do, you know about it."