Poldark star Jack Farthing: ‘I try to push against the posh actor stereotype’

The hit show’s sneering villain talks to Roisin O’Connor about capturing George Warleggan’s grief and insanity, and addresses accusations of ridiculous plots and shows that go on too long

Farthing is something of a shock in non-18th century dress (Rex)

I feel like one of the reasons people keep watching Poldark is that the characters are all massively flawed,” says Jack Farthing. “You can’t really predict what they’ll do next.”

The London-born actor, 33, is discussing his role as George Warleggan in the BBC adaptation of Winston Graham’s novels, about the swashbuckling Captain Ross Poldark’s adventures in 18th-century Cornwall. Since the first episode aired in 2015, Farthing has been the sneering antagonist to Aidan Turner’s brooding hero; his low brow, heavily lidded eyes and a nose that is perpetually turned down at the other characters giving him the impression of a bird of prey sizing up his next meal. Farthing is also such a natural in stockings and breeches that it’s a shock to see him in jeans.

Throughout those first two seasons, he offered viewers brief glimpses of George’s insecurities – moments where the mask slipped – so the character moved quickly from a kind of pantomime villain to someone multi-faceted and even, on rare occasions, sympathetic. In series five, which launched earlier this month, George is grieving the death of his wife Elizabeth – Ross’s former love – and viewers are witnessing his gradual descent into insanity.

Farthing (right) as George Warleggan with Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark (BBC)

“It’s quite intimidating being presented with this as a story, and you feel the weight of wanting to give it real truth,” Farthing says. “But at the same time, it’s an amazing opportunity to put that on TV responsibly, so I got caught up with trying to make it as authentic as I possibly could.

“Who knows if I’ve succeeded?” he continues. “But as the show goes on you see all these different sides of George’s grief and I wanted all of them to be grounded in reality, rather than if we were conjuring up some cartoon version.”

In previous interviews, journalists have linked Farthing’s background (he attended Westminster School and Oxford University before studying at the prestigious drama academy Lamda) with his most high-profile roles to date. There was the foppish, empty-headed son of Lord Emsworth in the BBC comedy series Blandings; an aristocratic but insecure student in The Riot Club; and social-climbing George in Poldark. It would be easy, albeit slightly lazy, to suggest he’s being typecast – Farthing points out that not one of those roles, nor his performances, have been the same.

“I’m always most interested in things that feel like a departure from me, but there’s an inevitability in people thinking of you a certain way,” he says, “and to an extent you can’t fight that. But my agent and I definitely try to push against those stereotypes, because as an actor I don’t want to do the same thing. I want to explore and stretch different muscles, and keep surprising people.”

After a starring role in Mike Bartlett’s Wikileaks-inspired play Wild in 2016, Farthing will appear alongside Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Matt Smith and Matthew Goode in the espionage thriller Official Secrets (about real-life British intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun), which is scheduled for release later this year. Then there’s an entirely different turn in Love. Wedding. Repeat. – a Netflix romcom based on the 2012 French film Plan de Table – which features Farthing’s Riot Club co-star Sam Claflin as well as Olivia Munn, Freida Pinto, Aisling Bea... and fellow Poldark actor Eleanor Tomlinson (“so we were finally doing proper scenes together after five years”). Farthing plays someone from the bride’s past who returns to “threaten a lot of things… so again, I’m a troublemaker, but in a very different way”.

Matthew Beard, Ben Schnetzer, Douglas Booth and Jack Farthing in ‘The Riot Club’

Early reviews for the fifth series of Poldark have quickly picked up where critics of season four left off, praising the dramatic scenery and performances of its star cast, but dismissing the plot as classic Sunday night fodder: light, fluffy and often downright ridiculous. Farthing suggests it has something to do with the show’s fast pace – by the end of the first episode of this season, Poldark has already saved the king from an assassination attempt, clashed with George and helped an old friend out of prison. Yet beneath the ruffles and wigs there are important portrayals of grief, infidelity and ambition.

“George is an actor himself, in a way,” Farthing says. “He’s presenting the world with this version of himself, of this powerful aristocrat, and the person he wants to convince the most is himself. When someone like that exists, performatively, I feel they’re always building up to a higher place so there’s a bigger fall waiting to happen. You can’t exist in character all the time, eventually you’ll expose yourself to the world.”

As Farthing sees it, George comes from a place of vulnerability in that he has a chip on his shoulder about coming from a family of “new money”, while Ross has inherited all the prestige and respect that comes with the Poldark name. “George wants everything that Ross has been given for free and never really cared about,” he suggests. “So particularly now, George has been wounded and he’s exposed from the loss of Elizabeth, and is as shocked as anyone else as to how it’s impacted him.”

He laughs when I point out how the phrase “for now” keeps cropping up among Poldark fans in reference to the final season. “It’s good that Poldark is ending when people are still interested in it – that’s obviously a privileged position to be in, because things can go on for too long,” he says.

“Isn’t it amazing when a show like Fleabag says ‘right, we’re done’? It’s so refreshing, it’s classy and it makes you appreciate the material that’s there. I’m glad that Poldark’s ending in a similar position, and it’s nice to end on a series that feels more Debbie (Horsfield)’s than Winston’s in a way.”

Is there a dream role he has in mind, now his next few projects are out of the way? “I’m so bad at that question,” Farthing admits. “I should probably go away and think about a proper answer. But I think I’ll just run a mile from anything set in the 18th century. I’m ready for a tracksuit!”

Poldark continues on Sundays on BBC1 at 9pm