Queer As Folk’s AIDAN GILLEN on fame, breaking TV’s rules… and John Malkovich’s feet

Diving deep into all things ’90s… From The Wire to Game of Thrones, Mojo to Peaky Blinders and The Dark Knight Rises, acting superstar Aidan Gillen has made his name playing characters of complexity and grit. But the role that first took him stratospheric was that of Stuart Allen Jones in Queer As Folk, a charming advertising executive in Manchester who becomes infatuated with the teenage Nathan Maloney. Still beloved by fans old and new, Russell T. Davies’s show was pioneering for both the gay community and TV on the whole, but it also introduced Aidan to an uncomfortable amount of recognition… He talks to Miranda about handling fame, the weight of playing such a monumental gay role when you’re a straight man, and his new series out on the BBC today, Tall Tales And Murder. Plus, he discovers how Christopher Ecclestone once described him… and it’s quite the compliment. • Sign up to support us on Patreon to help the podcast AND get merch and extra material too. Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want your brand to reach the 3.5 MILLION people who listen to Podmasters podcasts every month? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more. Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait and Amelia Phillips. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices