Halit Ergenç (; born 30 April 1970) is a Turkish actor known for his role as Sultan Suleiman I in '' Muhteşem Yüzyıl,'' Onur Aksal in '' Binbir Gece'' and Cevdet in ''Vatanim Sensin''.

Biography

Halit Ergenç was born as the son of Yeşilçam-era actor Mehmet Sait Ergenç on 30 April 1970 in Istanbul. His maternal grandmother is of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

descent. He completed his secondary education at Beşiktaş Atatürk High School in 1989 and entered

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

to study Marine Engineering. He graduated from the Operetta and Musical Theatre Department of the

Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (, or MSGSÜ) is a public art university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university's campus is located in the Fındıklı, Beyoğlu. The university was established in 1882 under the leadership of Osman Hamdi Bey. Hi ...

. He supported himself working as a computer operator and marketer. He briefly worked as a backing vocalist and dancer for

Ajda Pekkan Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (; born 12 February 1946) is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure. ...

and Leman Sam.

TV series

He gained recognition with his role in the television series ''Kara Melek''. Following appearances in series ''Köşe Kapmaca'' and ''Böyle mi Olacaktı'', ''Dedem, Gofret ve Ben'' and ''Zerda''. In 2004, he took part in the series '' Aliye'' with Sanem Çelik and Nejat İşler. In 2006, he starred as Onur Aksal in the hit series '' Binbir Gece'' that aired until 2009. In 2011 he starred as

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

in the hit series '' Muhteşem Yüzyıl'' until 2014. In 2016, he started playing opposite his wife Bergüzar Korel in ''

Vatanım Sensin ''Vatanım Sensin'' (, alternatively known as ''Wounded Love'' in English language, English) is a Turkish television drama set during the last years of Ottoman Empire and the Turkish War of Independence. The main character "Cevdet" is based on th ...

''. Ergenç was involved in the Gezi protests of 2013, appearing in newspaper photos wearing a

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

T-shirt and surgical mask for protection against tear gas. His presence made for interesting copy, since he at once played the role of one of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

's foremost leaders in the show ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl'', and at the same time he was protesting the actions of a government very much invested in celebrating Ottoman glory. Ergenç was subsequently summoned with other cultural leaders to a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan, and Erdoğan apparently quizzed Ergenç on Ottoman words used by Suleiman, the character whom Ergenç played in ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl''.

Film

In 2000, he acted in both films ''Hiç Yoktan Aşk'' and ''Ölümün El Yazısı''. In 2005 and 2006, Ergenç took part in the films '' Babam ve Oğlum'' directed by

Çağan Irmak Çağan Irmak (born 4 April 1970) is a Turkish people, Turkish film and television writer and director, who has managed to attract a large audience in Turkey and is best known for the TV series ''Çemberimde Gül Oya'' (2004–2005) and ''Asmalı ...

, '' The Net 2.0'', ''Tramway'' and ''İlk Aşk''. During this period he also had roles in the films '' Devrim Arabaları'' which was based on a true story and '' Acı Aşk''. Ergenç also starred as

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

in the film '' Dersimiz Atatürk''. After, he played Fatali Khan Khoyski who the first Prime Minister of the independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in ''Ali & Nino''. He played in the movie ''İstanbul Kırmızısı'' directed by

Ferzan Özpetek Ferzan Özpetek (, ; born 3 February 1959) is a Turkish-Italian film director and screenwriter, residing in Italy since 1978. Biography Ferzan Özpetek was born in Istanbul in 1959. In 1976, he decided to move to Italy to study Cinema History ...

Theatre

In 1996, Ergenç began acting at the Dormen Theatre and had his first leading role in the musical

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...

. He continued working in theatre in plays such as ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off- ...

'', ''Tatlı Charity'', ''Beni Seviyor'', ''Kral ve Ben'', ''Amphitrion 2000'', '' Evita'', ''Hayalet and Ötekiler'' and ''Şarkılar Susarsa''. He went to New York and acted in the musical ''The Adventures of Zak''. Then, he appeared in a number of plays such as ''Bugün Git Yarın Gel'', ''Popcorn'', ''Arapsaçı'' and ''Sevgilime Göz Kulak Ol''.

Personal life

Since 2009, he has been married to his '' Binbir Gece'' co-star Bergüzar Korel with whom he has two sons named Ali and Han, and a daughter named Leyla. His younger brother Mehmet Sait Ergenç—named for their father—is also an actor. He has stated that he likes

Zeki Demirkubuz Zeki Demirkubuz (born 1 October 1964) is a contemporary Turkish people, Turkish film director, screenwriter, film producer, producer and film editor. Biography Demirkubuz dropped out of high school and started working in a textile workshop. He ...

's style and

's emotion, but prefers to work the most with Reha Erdem and

, whom he describes as both young and talented directors. In 2017, Ergenç visited Pakistan and attended the

Lux Style Awards The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony which has been held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The ceremony celebrates "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, such as Cinema of Pakistan, cinema, television in Pakistan, television, Pa ...

, where he was honoured with the International Icon of the year award, due to his popularity in the country. In his accepting speech, Ergenç said that he had grown up knowing Pakistan as a "brother country".

Filmography

Movies

Web series

TV series

References

External links

*
Halit Ergenç: Suleiman the Magnificent, Modern King Shahryār and more
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ergenc, Halit 1970 births Living people Male actors from Istanbul Turkish people of Albanian descent Turkish male film actors Turkish male television actors Turkish male stage actors Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University alumni Golden Butterfly Award winners