Interview with Omur Gedik-Feb 2014

Here I am sharing you with another interview of our prince charming Engin Akyurek with Omur Gedik. I hope you like it. The interview has been translated by Engin Akyurek Universal Fans Club.

Thanks EAUFC!

'When I announced the young actor’s interview through social media channels, I saw what a large and devoted fan group the young actor has. Engin Akyurek will be on the large screen again on February 14, as the lead character in “Bi Kucuk Eylul Meselesi (A Small September Affair)”. 

       - Omur Gedik

Interviewer: Engin Akyurek hardly ever discusses himself, and so little is known about him, that his fans are curious about everything starting from his childhood. Let’s start our discussion from there...

Engin with Omur Gedik (journalist)

Engin: I was born in 1981, and I can say I grew up playing in the streets pretty much. I spent my childhood in Ankara.

 Interviewer: What did you play the most?
Engin: Football.

Interviewer: Which team do you like?
Engin: Besiktas. We used to say Metin, Ali, Feyyaz and nothing else!

Interviewer: Were you naughty?
Engin: Very much! (He still is in his looks)


Interviewer: Do you have any bruises or scars anywhere?
Engin: I have a scar on my lip from falling as child.

Interviewer: Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were young?
Engin: It used to change every year. I wanted to be a football player, then a lawyer.

Interviewer: Were you a good student?
Engin: No, I was never very committed to my classes.

Interviewer: Are you the kind of person that falls in and out of love quickly? Did you used to fall in love quickly? 
Engin: Like every kid.. that is, like everyone else. Let’s not say fall in out of love, because we lived in a more innocent time, and everything was more innocent. There was no way to find anyone on Facebook or Twitter. If you saw someone you saw them, if you said something, you said it; we didn’t have any second chances.

Interviewer: Do you remember your first love?
Engin: Yes, I remember it. I was in middle school, either first or second year. Her name was Nazan. I even made a joke about it. I said to her, “Look, your name is Nazan. If you read it 'left to right' it is Nazan, if you read it 'right to left', it is Nazan.” (Nazan! You truely are a lucky girl)


Interviewer: So, right then, the girl took off and never looked back, right?
Engin: I think so, yeah, it ended there... (Laughing) (hhhhhh.... Thank God)


Interviewer: Your life changed direction immediately after “Turkiye’nin Yildizlari” (Turkey’s Stars), right?
Engin: Young boys have a difficult time at 14-15, their minds are all messed up. Later, you begin to mature, know yourself better, and start to figure out what you want to do with your life. Regarding that, I think the show was the place where I found all my answers. 

Interviewer:What made you decide to enter the show?
Engin: The contest was something that had grown inside me, something that seemed to represent the things I wanted. But, I believe this, even if I had not entered that contest, I still would have taken up acting. 
 
Interviewer:So, the contest ended, and then...?
Engin: Yabanci Damat (Foreign Groom) entered my life.. 

Interviewer:Did you get lost in Istanbul during that time?
Engin: No, I came to Istanbul by myself, but didn’t find being here hard. I took on things to make me grow..


Interviewer: You studied history in the university. Do you have any plans in the future to use your history degree? 
Engin: I am a good history reader, I follow all the newly released books. But, an academic career is a very different concentration. I think my degree added a great deal to my intellectual growth.

Interviewer: What do you think it added, then?
Engin: It doesn't always have to be a historical piece to benefit from history. History can be used to better understand a character, too. I don’t think you can really play a character in 2014 very well, if you don’t know the troubled periods this country went through.

Interviewer: In Bir Bulut Olsam (I wish I were a Cloud , NIJAAT), the epileptic, psychotic, obsessed character, Mustafa Bulut, was talked about a lot, and he became a legend. How did this character come about?
Engin: He was a fantastic character written by Meral Abla (Okay), may she rest in peace. Think about a leading man; he is epileptic, he is psychotic, and he beats women. You have to show your attractive and charming and interesting side to your audience, so they can believe in your love.

Interviewer: Mustafa Bulut also a very passionate man. Are you like that also?
Engin: I am passionate, but I don’t show it like that.

Interviewer: How do you show your passion?

Engin: I don’t think passion has to do with just love, in my opinion. I am passionate about life, about Besiktas. 

Interviewer: Is your passion for Besiktas stronger than your love for a woman?
Engin: No, it would be wrong to say that!


Interviewer:Okay, what about your job or career? Is that more important? Do you say, first my job, then my love life?
Engin: No, I don’t say things like that. I don’t like to put my life into categories like that. I don’t prioritize in my head like that.

Interviewer: Your movie is going to be in theaters on February 14. Will you say a few things about Valentine’s Day? What are you going to do?
Engin: I don’t have a lover, but I am wondering what else is there to do!?

Interviewer: There are many things you can do, if only you wish to! Do you like surprising people?
Engin: Yes, I love to surprise people, but I soon forget about it, and the surprises fly away like balloons. 

Interviewer: What do you mean?
Engin: I forget about it. 

Interviewer: But, you think about doing something, right?
Engin: Oh, unbelievable things...

Interviewer: Then, you have to do it right away, don’t let any time get in the way!
Engin: Yes, I think so, too. But, you have to capture that moment. But, when I think about it, and then remember, two and half years have gone by!

Interviewer: Oh, my God! I don’t know what to say to you!
Engin: But, I am being honest! At least, I say it!

Interviewer:The director of “Bir Kucuk Eylul Meselesi” has said “There are many beautiful things that we miss when we are living our lives.” Do you think there are some things you have missed or haven’t done?
Engin: I am sure there are. The movie is exactly about this, actually. Life is full of amazing miracles that we miss, love is one of these.

Interviewer: What kind of character do you play in that movie?
Engin: A caricaturist. Living in Bozca by himself, but he is not originally from there, he has moved there later, and he lives by himself in a quiet and protective life that he has created. And, he is actually happy. But, because of a woman, he realizes that there are more beautiful things in life. 

Interviewer:What does being alone mean for you? Have you ever wanted to be alone?
 Engin: No, I have never wanted to be alone. 

Interviewer: Haven’t you ever wanted to run away from a life of running around and being in the center of all this competition?
Engin: No, I have never thought to. Maybe 50 years or so later. I count the days when I work hard as sleeping and those days when I sleep a lot as part of working.

Interviewer: You play a caricaturist in the movie. Can you draw also?
Engin: Yes, since I always had magazines and use to draw, I do have some talent for drawing and for creating caricatures.


Interviewer: Do you have other hobbies?
Engin: I like watching movies, swimming. I do scuba-diving in summers, diving excites me differently. 

Interviewer: what kind of lover are you? I heard that you said “I won't chase after someone who doesn't want me.”
Engin: It’s different, depending on the feelings of the person I am with. I don't know where I supposedly said that, but it's not like me.

Interviewer:Your fans all over the world are curious about your private life!
Engin:Maybe.

Interviewer: Okay, so, if you were in a relationship, would you conceal it?
Engin: No, I wouldn’t hide it.

Interviewer:Are you a congenial person, easy to get along.
 Engin: Pretty much.

Interviewer: You don’t have any flaws, vices, demands? I don’t mean just on the set, but in your general life.
 Engin: Maybe towards those I love, those that are close to me.

Interviewer: How about on the set?
Engin: On the set, I constantly ask for tea! That is my biggest demand. (Start having tea girls ;) Engin loves it)



Interviewer: They always make you play flawed men. Sad, isn’t it?
Engin: Maybe, those characters are more realistic, and I actually like flawed characters. 

Interviewer: That is what actually makes a character special and different.
Engin: In the end, we all have flaws and issues.

Interviewer:You played in Zeki Demirkubuz’ movie, “Kader.” How did you meet each other?
Engin: Zeki Abi saw me in “Yabanci Damat” (Foreign Groom)..I learned a lot from him.

Interviewer: Such as?
Engin:That acting has a lot to do with concentration, how to show realism in a show, in a character, I learned all that from him.
  
Interviewer: What do you think of the leading men in the movies? How do you compare with them?
Engin: You should ask the audience that. But, I think leading men have become more real, more like us. But, if you are talking about television, Yes, based on the projects I have been involved in, I have been a leading man.

Tekin received positive response from critics and fans alike, a character that made audiences cry and feel his love for Eylul.

Interviewer: How would you summarize “Bi Kucuk Eylul Meselesi?”
Engin: A 2014 love story.That is, it is not like innocent, friendly love stories of our youth. It is about a man who has run away from his past in the city, and a relationship.But, later on, they live naive, innocent lives, thoughts, they change. This film makes us think a little about what we actually need.

Interviewer: Did anything interesting happen during filming?
Engin: Farah Zeynep Abdullah and I have an underwater scene. But, we were filming in the middle of September, in Bozca. The water was 16 degrees. I saw us turning blue.

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