‘Rivals’: Aidan Turner Defends Declan’s ‘Tempestuous’ Marriage to Maud
What To Know
- The second season of the Brit soap just premiered on Hulu.
- Aidan Turner’s journalist Declan O’Hara turns up the heat in the first episode back.
- Turner believes Declan and Maud’s marriage can be saved.
Rivals Season 2 is finally here, and battle lines are about to be drawn! On top of the ongoing feud between media mogul Lord Tony Baddingham (the perfect David Tennant) and former Olympian equestrian/British MP Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) over broadcasting rights within our beloved (but sadly fictional) village of Rutshire, there is also a slew of more intimate engagements heating up. Because on this British soap set in the 1980s, it’s not the upper lips that are stiff. (Warning: Spoilers for Rivals Season 2 ahead!)
While some diehards here at Swooon are consumed with whatever is going on with Rupert and the much younger Taggie O’Hara (Bella Maclean), there are those of us who are invested in the widening rift between her parents, Declan (Aidan Turner) and mum Maud (Victoria Smurfit). And it has nothing to do with the fact that Declan is a total daddy with journalistic integrity and a mustache that deserves its own trailer. Or the insanely hot reunion Declan and Maud share in London, where she’s run off to star in a play. We swear.
Here, the Poldark alum, who first got temps racing as the vampire bad boy John Mitchell on the O.G. Being Human, explains what Declan is going to deal with now that he’s aligned himself with Venturer, the mini-conglomerate created by bed-hopping Rupert to challenge the malevolent Baddingham.
Given his introduction as a loose cannon journalist, it was so cool to see Declan become almost the moral center of the Venturer trio. How long can that hold, especially with Rupert’s antics?
Aidan Turner: I don’t know with Rupert’s antics how long he can stay the moral center. It’s always been very interesting for me to play Declan, as he acts like the audience’s eyes—certainly in the first season, when he comes in, he’s observing this world. There’s all sorts of antics going on around him; people sleeping with each other, there’s all sorts of dynamics happening, and he seems like he’s the [only] adult in the room. That was always very interesting to play. But the second series is bigger and bolder. I don’t know how long it would take before Rupert’s antics show up and disrupt everything.
What is it about Declan that makes us root for him? Because by season’s end, he was my favorite.
Turner: I’m glad to hear he was your favorite! He’s an interesting character to play. He’s very much involved in his work and always has an agenda. He’s not just kind of bopping around and showing up at people’s houses looking to sleep with them. He has things to do…he’s a journalist, and he’s obsessed with work. I think seeing somebody who is of that kind is always interesting to watch. He always has something going, he’s always thinking, always plotting, he’s always trying to move his story forward, and that’s entertaining to watch.
In the midst of his own angst, he can also be funny to watch because he cares a lot about what he does. When it inevitably goes wrong for him, it’s interesting to watch him fight his way out of the situation, and I think that’s entertaining.
As hot as his post-show reunion with Maud is, these two don’t really work as a couple. Can you see Declan crossing a line with someone else in the story?
Turner: I would disagree. I think they do work as a couple. I think they’re quite honest with each other. They have a very tumultuous, tempestuous relationship, [but] they need to sort out their problems, [including] Maud’s lack of happiness in the marriage with Declan’s work. I’d like to see them work it out, but I don’t know if they can at this stage. There’s a big mountain to climb before they do that. I guess we just have to wait and see.
Declan was originally Team Corinium. Should we be worried that Tony will target him next?
Turner: Everyone should be worried that Tony is going to target them next. Tony is just that type of character. He’s manipulative and disruptive. He’s got a lot of evil in him, and he takes great joy in disrupting other people’s lives. I don’t think anyone is off the table in that regard. Declan is quite a strong character, so he can deal with him. But I think Tony’s out for blood, and nobody escapes Tony’s gaze.
Rivals, Season 2, Fridays, Hulu
