Okan Yalabık

Photo Source: netflix, kasaba

Okan Yalabık is a Turkish actor and voice actor. He acted in Hakan: Muhafız (Netflix – The Protector, also: Çağatay & Cem), Hekimoğlu (Dr. House Turkish Version), Masum (Innocent), Vatanım Sensin (Wounded Love, also: Alina), Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century, also: Aras, Burak, Burcu & Biran), Avrupa Yakası (also: Nihal & Bennu), Av Mevsimi (Hunting Season), Hatırla Sevgili (Remember Darling), Azizler (Netflix – Stuck Apart, also: Helin), Mavi Mağara (Amazon Prime – Blue Cave, also: Kerem), Bir Başkadır (Netflix – Ethos) Kasaba (Netflix – The Town, also: Kerem Can, Özgürcan, Ozan & Büşra) and more.

Facts:

• he is the second child of a family from Balıkesir, Türkiye
• says his love for theatre began in middle school, when his older brother bought the audio cassette of Ferhan Şensoy’s play Ferhangi Şeyler
  • he found it fascinating and fell in love with theatre not by watching it, but by listening to it
• says he rarely gives interviews because that’s simply his nature, he doesn’t enjoy doing interviews and has struggled with speaking in front of crowds since childhood
• in 1993, he played a key role in the establishment of the Sakıp Sabancı Anatolian High School Theatre Group by inviting Cengiz Deveci to serve as a drama instructor at the school
• had his first theatre experience in 1998, performing in Martı (The Seagull) at Kenter Theatre
• when asked whether he ever feels he chose the wrong profession since his work is performed in front of crowds, he says he loves being on stage and telling other people’s stories, but he doesn’t enjoy talking about himself
• if he were immortal, he says he would choose to live in the 50s, 60s or the 70s, he feels that life in those periods seems more refined and more exciting to him
  • people in that period were more sensitive and that human value, love and respect mattered more
• describes his outlook on life as being moderate, he says this principle comes from Yıldız Kenter’s advice and believes it is something that can be applied not only to his profession but to life in general
• believes that staying moderate is becoming increasingly difficult
  • he feels that in an age dominated by communication and social media, people are constantly being directed toward certain things and places, to the point where even making one’s own choices has become harder
• finds refuge in photography and says he has built a music studio, which he describes as a kind of playground for him
  • photography is like a diary for him, he doesn’t keep a written journal; instead, he creates his diaries through photographs
  • he finds working with microphones, equipment and recording things fun and enjoyable
• sees digital media as a free and well-structured space for storytelling and feels proud to have taken part in Türkiye‘s early digital productions
  • he considers Masum (Innocent) a strong, enduring starting point that helped open the way for what followed
• criticizes the excessively long runtimes of television dramas, noting that episodes lasting 120–150 minutes are rare elsewhere and difficult for foreign actors to understand
  • believes drama should be more concise and suited to television, as seen in digital formats with shorter episodes
• believes television strongly shapes society and warns that constant exposure to conflict and aggression on screen can normalize such behavior in everyday life
• defines himself primarily through his work and says his existence is tied to doing his job, as it is in any profession
  • although he may appear cold or distant, he explains that he is not, he is simply a calm person
• he doesn’t have a cat or a dog because he doesn’t want to take on that responsibility for now, but he looks after and cares for many animals