Aiden Turner is no stranger to setting hearts fluttering after whipping his shirt off in the BBC’s Poldark.
Now the actor is set to return to our screens in another period drama - this time playing Leonardo da Vinci.
A clip (above) of the 36-year-old star in Leonardo has been released to coincide with the Italian painter’s birthday, and we’re already getting hot-priest-from-Fleabag vibes.
The series, which will arrive on our screens next year, also stars Family Novel star Giancarlo Giannini, who plays da Vinci’s master Andrea Del Verrocchio, and The Undoing’s Matilda De Angelis as Caterina Da Cremona, da Vinci’s muse.
Eleonaro Andreatta, head of drama at Rai, which produced the series, said: “Leonardo remains an inspirational figure around the world, and his ability to put together a prodigious synthesis of science and poetry, technology and art, is a reminder for us to trust in humanity’s capacity to cope with the adversity it faces.
“That’s why we are excited to give to the public an insight into the tortured and captivating life he lived, and how his incredible vision has helped us to look to the future ever since the Renaissance.”
Aiden previously said his famous shirtless scything scene in Poldark made him appreciate how women feel when objectified.
He said that while he never felt personally objectified, it enabled him to have more empathy towards women who have found themselves in a similar position.
“I’m a man. It’s just not the same,” he told Radio Times. “It’s a completely different world for me. I walk down the street, I don’t ever feel scared. There are women who feel scared every day. It’s a very different world for me.
“If I go to a BFI screening and 20 women come up and they want selfies, it can sometimes get a little hands-on. But I never feel like my safety is in question. I never feel like I need to get out of there. I don’t get scared, so it’s different. Whereas a woman might, if it happened with 20 guys crowding around her.”