One is a global heartthrob, famed for his role as scythe-loving Poldark. The other is a musician and father of two, an inspiration for young people living with Parkinson’s - after being diagnosed at 35.
Yet despite their different paths in life, actor Aidan Turner and Drew Hallam have the sort of mutual respect usually cultivated through years of friendship.
“Aidan sends me lovely text messages and voice messages,” says Drew, speaking affectionately from his home in St Austell, Cornwall. “They are really heartfelt, long messages. He asks after my family. I’m just really humbled by what a nice guy he is. We are both 39. I think getting to know me has made Aidan realise how young Parkinson’s can strike.”
The pair met last year when Aidan started research for his latest role in the hit new ITV thriller, The Suspect, which started on Monday.
In the drama, from the producers of Line of Duty and Vigil, Aidan plays clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin.
On first impressions, Joe is quite the hero. In early scenes, he is seen balancing precariously on a hospital window ledge - convincing a young man with a terminal diagnosis not to jump off - all while trying to conceal his own shaking.
We soon learn that Joe has just been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s - at the age of 42.
He then becomes curiously swept up in a police case, after a young woman is found murdered in a shallow grave and it’s not long before we’re left wondering whether Joe is quite the angel he’s cracked up to be.
While The Suspect is sure to centre around the whodunnit murder, Drew says he still hopes it will go some way towards normalising the progressive neurological condition he has.
The roofing designer, who lives with wife Sophie, 34, and children Paige, nine and Wes, five, says: “I said to Aidan when we first met that time, ‘thank you for playing someone with Parkinson’s because no one ever does on TV’.
“I do think the general understanding of this illness just isn’t there. It is quite an undertaking for someone to play because it’s progressive and degenerative. But I really hope this drama just makes people understand Parkinson’s better because I’m often misunderstood. I’ve been accused of being drunk in charge of my children, because of how I’m walking. I’ve been told I’m on drugs. Obviously I am,” he laughs, “But not that kind!
“You get so many of those stereotypical comments. While I’m not the type to get embarrassed it’s not nice when my kids are there.”
Even hospital visits for routine check-ups can feel demeaning.
Drew says: “I’d have to go to appointments in a geriatric ward - not a normal one. And I love old people - but being put with older people when this disease has me in my thirties, is not good. Just that simple acknowledgement to want to be treated normally, doesn’t cost a penny and can make all the difference.”
Drew first met Aidan last summer in a London hotel bar. The star instantly put him at ease.
Drew recalls: “He didn’t need to meet me in person but he wanted to. He came to where I was staying with my wife. You could see in his eyes that he was watching me - the way I moved, the way I sipped my coffee. It was quite strange but he said to me how it was really important for him to portray Parksinson’s in the right way - and I knew that came from a really genuine place.”
Opening up about their meetings, Leonardo star Aidan says: “We talked endlessly about the details of how the medication makes him feel, what was it like in the early days? What were the first few weeks like? Do you remember them? Because I was talking to him about how reckless Joe might be, he said ‘Absolutely. I didn’t know what to do with myself.
“I feel like everything we talked about was vital, crucial to me finding Joe’s character.”
Drew says: “Aidan asked all about my diagnosis. I told him how hard it had been and how out of the blue. I was a musician playing guitar in various bands. But I’d noticed my fingers had started to slow down. I noticed I couldn’t carry my children quite as well.
“It took a neurologist ten minutes to diagnose me a few days after mentioning, in passing to my GP, that I’d lost some strength in my arm and would shake a bit.
“After I was told, I got in my car and texted my wife: ‘I’ve got Parkinson’s.’ She started ringing me frantically but I just couldn’t pick up. I was empty. I went through a lot of anger and frustration. I became suicidal because things just felt hopeless.
“I know it must have been very beneficial for Aidan to have heard how I felt because his character also goes through those different emotions.
“My dad had dementia. I felt like I’d just lost him and then got this diagnosis too. My son had just been born. I think that was where a lot of my anger had come from.
“I wanted to play with him, and with my guitar. Yet, slowly I felt they were both being taken away from me. I’ve wondered whether I’ll ever be able to walk my daughter down the aisle if she gets married. The future feels uncertain.
“There were all these words I kept hearing - ‘incurable’, ‘degenerative’ from professionals. There was no offer of counselling. It was down to me to find that mental strength.
“I do have a choice and that is to take it on in a positive way now.”
Like many others, Drew is on medication to curb his uncontrollable movements. He also has deep brain stimulation (DBS), a pulse generator - a device like a heart pacemaker - that’s been implanted in his chest. It connects to fine wires in his brain. When turned on, the electrodes in the brain stimulate the targeted area, changing the signals that are causing the motor symptoms.
He says: “Aidan wanted to know how it worked. I decided to turn it off to show him what it’s like when I don’t have it. I just become like a washing machine - I am really quite symptomatic.
“That really hit home to him. He mentioned, in a really lovely way, how amazed he was at how much it was helping me. Most of all he was just so humble.
“I told him how, just before my surgery, I decided to record Bohemian Rhapsody on the guitar. When I woke up friends had shared it with Queen and I had amazing messages from Brian May and Roger Taylor. Brian said ‘F*** Parkinson’s’ and he’s right.
“I can’t play how I want. It’s like my body is doing an Irish jig despite my brain knowing what it wants to play. But I’m relearning the guitar and I am going to do another gig soon.
“Aidan has watched all my old music videos.”
Other cast in The Suspect include Fleabag’s Sian Clifford, Vigil’s Anjli Mohindra and Small Axe’s Shaun Parkes play the police detectives investigating the murder.
Last Christmas, Drew visited Aidan on set as he filmed scenes in a London hospital.
He says: “Like the first time, he was in no rush. He pulled up chairs for my wife and I as the crew waited. He gave us hugs and wanted to know how we were.
“He didn’t need to do that. He’s just a lovely guy. He sees it as a huge responsibility, this role.
“I know he’ll do it justice - whether he turns out to be a killer or not,” laughs Drew. “I hope it means people will be less judgemental.”
For more information on Parkinson's go to www.parkinsons.org.uk.
*The second part of The Suspect is on ITV, Monday at 9pm, and the whole series is on the ITV Hub.
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