Is It Hard for Actors to Play Drunk? Aidan Turner Explains

Very few bosses encourage employees to appear drunk, but actors have a unique gig. So it makes sense that Us Weekly reader Lori from Houston had to Ask Us: “Is it difficult for actors to play intoxicated characters and make it come off as believable?”

Viewers watching inebriated escapades unfold onscreen (think: Friends’ Ross and Rachel’s booze-filled night in Las Vegas) may think a believable good buzz is effortless to pull off. But for Rivals star Aidan Turner, whose Declan O’Hara gets sloshed in episode 5 of the Hulu drama, playing drunk proved to be a challenge.

“Our director, Elliot Hegarty, was saying, ‘You got to do more. You are on a seven, and I need a nine,’ and I said, ‘I can’t!’” Turner, 41, exclusively told Us. Eventually, Turner turned his performance up to an 11 — and he was surprised by the results. “I was like, ‘This is crazy. It’s never going to work.’”

The Poldark alum said the key to creating a believable performance was trusting his director. “When I look back at that scene, I do have mixed feelings because it is so very, very drunk,” Turner said. “I think because as a person [in real life], I don’t get that obliterated or that crazily drunk, so it always felt very big to me. But I suppose, tonally, it fits in the show and you have to trust your director at that stage. He or she will give you what you want and will guide you through it.”

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Generally, Turner considers a solid drunken performance to be a rather impressive feat. “There’s lots of great drunk performances. I like subtle drunk,” the Irish actor explained.

When he isn’t asked to turn his performance up to 11, Turner believes the key to playing drunk is for the actor to appear like they want to be sober.

“It’s almost like any drunk person you meet — they’re trying not to be drunk,” he noted. “You are trying to sort of straighten yourself up. You are trying not to slur and are trying to correct yourself. So that’s the moment there. You’re not leaning into the drunk, you’re kind of trying to lean away from it. So, in performances where I see that happen — where you can really see the [actor] actually working to not [be] drunk — I always find that [performance to be] the most interesting to watch.”

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Reporting by Yana Grebenyuk