Mehmet Ozan Dolunay

Photo Source: netflix, kasaba

Mehmet Ozan Dolunay is a Turkish actor. He acted in Tatlı Küçük Yalancılar (Adaptation of Pretty Little Liars, also: Şükrü & Dilan), Yüksek Sosyete (Adaptation of Korean Drama – High Society), Zalim Istanbul (Cruel Istanbul, also: Simay), İyi Günde Kötü Günde (Happily Ever After, also: Elçin), Dilek Taşı (A Father’s Promise, also: Salih), Merve Kült (You Do You, also: Ahsen), Kasaba (The Town – Netflix, also: Kerem Can, Okan, Özgürcan & Büşra) and more. His new series Tutku Oyunları (Passion Games), starring alongside Melis Sezen, will be released on Netflix soon.

Facts:

• completed his secondary education at Enka High School in Türkiye and Cleveland Heights High School in the United States
• discovered acting while studying at university through Craft Theatre, where the training deeply resonated with his interest in understanding people
  • after a successful audition for Tatlı Küçük Yalancılar (Pretty Little Liars Turkish Version) he hesitated but accepted the role with his teachers’ encouragement and the experience both motivated him and launched his acting career
• he says he wouldn’t call himself stubborn, but admits he has a few obsessive tendencies
• for him, nothing compares to being on stage, while screen work emphasises visuals, the stage speaks directly to emotions; an unrestricted, nonjudgmental space
• prefers planning at night, it makes him wake up psychologically prepared
• tries to balance both logic and instinct, but if he had to choose, he’d pick logic, which he believes is his stronger side
• since he has already tried many sports, he’d choose being able to play all musical instruments rather than being able to do all kinds of sports
• fears lies far more than snakes; no animal can be as harmful as something created by humans, he says
• believes the pain of love is preferable to its absence
• chooses forgiveness over forgetting, forgetting always leaves something behind, but forgiveness requires full acceptance and lightens a person
• prefers the Anatolian Side of Istanbul, because it’s calmer and more modest
  • the European Side looks more beautiful when viewed from across the water, he says
• he’s definitely a pijamas-slippers-TV person, he doesn’t spend much time on his phone and usually watches or reads something
• has two cats and enjoys caring for them, but says the bond you form with a dog is something entirely different
• mainly follows the news on Twitter, relying on newspapers, journalists and accounts he trusts
• barely watches TV aside from following sports events, he prefers digital platforms
  • spends one to two hours a day rotating between Twitter, Instagram and YouTube
• asked about the most impressive acting performance he has seen recently, he explains that instead of something he watched, it was working with Okan Yalabık in a recent project that truly impressed him and confirmed his admiration
• if he could relive any moment, he would choose the day he first stepped onto a theatre stage
• when asked who he loves seeing on screen, he says he adores watching Merve Dizdar
• what makes him feel best these days is practicing yoga
• the most incorrect thing ever written about him was the claim that he began acting thanks to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire which he humorously denies
• his first “job” he says, was staging ticketed theatre performances with friends at his grandmother’s summer house, where kind neighbours would buy tickets and watch them
• something people probably don’t know about him is that he sneezes very loudly and in multiple sounds
• as a child, his idol was Michael Jordan
• when asked “Have you ever met a celebrity and realized they weren’t as impressive as you imagined?” he replied “Yes, but now that person is actually a friend of mine.”
• he said that he has fake social media accounts and even admitted there is someone he specifically uses them to stalk
• wants to keep learning, growing and deepening his understanding of the craft
  • he plans to study acting in Europe and train in behind-the-camera work in the U.S. not necessarily to become a director, but because he’s genuinely interested in that side of the industry and wants to learn it thoroughly
• on shoot days, his entire day is spent on set
  • when he’s not working, he loves being in nature; forests, beaches, quiet open spaces, where he takes his coffee, listens to music and reads
  • he also enjoys spending time with his sister, whom he lives with