Yiğit Koçak: You Don’t Watch Someone for Two and a Half Hours Just Because They’re Handsome.... FULL INTERVIEW

He came from Samsun to Istanbul to study economics. One day, he opened Google, typed “acting training” into the search bar, and everything that followed… followed. Offers started coming one after another, he climbed the career ladder fast, built a serious fan base, and gained more than 3 million followers on social media. We meet Yiğit Koçak and talk about the habit he’s had since his school years, his relationship with actress Lizge Cömert, his projects, and his life.

He’s been in Adana for a while for his new job. On his first day off, he comes to Istanbul for this interview and we meet up. We’ve known each other for a long time, and he’s not one of those whose ego grows as they become more famous. He’s very polite and calm. We start chatting…

◊ One more of our classic yearly meet-ups… Should we jump right in?

Go ahead. You and I are long past the “getting to know each other” phase.

◊ You turned 30 this year. How are your 30s treating you?

I did my military service this summer, and being alone with myself there made me look at everything from a different perspective. My behavior, the way I see the world, my relationships—everything changed… Maybe it happened because it lined up with turning 30. I don’t know.

◊ What changed?

I used to be impatient; now I’m calmer. I don’t have a problem, I don’t have the stress of “keeping something going,” and I learned to appreciate what I have. And I’m paying more attention to my relationships with the people who are by my side.

◊ Did you face your mistakes?

Especially in my professional life, I think I compromised too much. Not everyone’s only goal is acting. That’s why I had some losses. Was that a mistake? Definitely not. I still think in a work-focused way and I believe that’s right—except the world doesn’t move like that. But if I do my job well, I can respect myself. When you become famous, people just recognize you, but if they don’t respect you, what are you going to do with fame?

◊ You studied economics and finance at Bahçeşehir University…

No, I didn’t finish. I did the prep year, then I was at school for another two or three years, but I had nothing to do with it. I couldn’t even tell my parents—I was kind of just drifting around in secret.

◊ Why did you do that—was it because of your love for acting?

Economics wasn’t for me. School was starting to feel like it was closing in on me. And I’ve never been able to handle group education. I remember when I started elementary school—my rocking habit started back then. Crowds made me really uncomfortable. I’d put my hands under my legs and start rocking. I mostly moved forward with the help of private lessons.

◊ But now you’re right in the middle of team work. How did you adapt?

The good part of my job is that when the camera starts rolling, I isolate myself. In acting, that’s what I rely on: when I’m playing a character, I’m someone else—these aren’t my words or my sentences. That sense of comfort helped me. And over the years, I’ve started getting used to it anyway—so much time has passed.

◊ You’re from the Black Sea region, your family is in Samsun. You come to Istanbul for university. When did you decide you wanted to be an actor?

It was always on my mind, but in Samsun there weren’t many opportunities for it. The year I came to Istanbul, I typed ‘acting training’ into Google—and after that, everything happened. I got my training.

◊ And did you start?

Actually, at one point I quit again.

◊ You’re something else…

A year or two passed, and I started taking private lessons again. I transferred to Haliç University Conservatory. In my second year, Kardeşlerim started. And school got put on hold.

◊ Didn’t your family get mad?

When I said, “I’m switching to theatre,” all hell broke loose. But they got used to it.

◊ What’s the best and the hardest part about being recognized?

The best part is that you can have really warm conversations with people you’ve never met—that’s very enjoyable. The hardest part is that everything you do gets judged. Someone can even take something you did well and twist it into something bad.

“IN SPAIN THEY WERE SHOUTING ‘OMAR, OMAR’”

◊ Is there something you promised yourself you would never confess on the way to this interview?

No. Our conversations always develop on their own, and I can’t predict where they’ll go, so I didn’t think of anything like that.

◊ What’s the least glamorous thing you do when you’re home alone?

You’ve never seen me playing FIFA, have you? Full-on rage—meltdowns, yelling, shouting. I play to relax, but I end up even more stressed.

◊ What’s the trait your friends most want to change about you?

That I don’t go out. You know that grumpy person who complains when people say, “Let’s go somewhere”? That’s me. I think, “What can’t I do at home that I can do outside?”

◊ What’s the trait you most want to change about yourself?

That I constantly criticize myself harshly.

◊ Can you watch yourself?

I have to. And it turns into a crisis for me: “I shouldn’t have done that like this,” “Look, that came out weird here,” and then I immediately talk to my coach.

◊ When you put your head on the pillow, what do you dream about for the future?

There are a few roles I’ve always had in mind. I hope the right opportunities come my way so I can do one of them justice.

◊ You have a lot of fans abroad. What do you experience there?

For example, when we went to Spain, there was so much attention. They were shouting “Omar, Omar” in the name of the character I was playing at the time. That’s why I’d really love to act in a different language too.

“HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE DAUGHTER OF THE ENEMY FAMILY”

◊ What’s new this season?

Bereketli Topraklar started. I’m playing Salih.

◊ What kind of person is Salih?

Salih is the youngest son of one of Adana’s prominent families. Because of a blood feud, his older brother sent him to America when he was very young so he wouldn’t be harmed—but Salih grows up without knowing any of this. Twenty years later, his brother calls him back to Adana. He returns, but he still has anger about growing up away from home. And on top of all that, he’s in love with the daughter of the enemy family.

◊ There’s a blood feud between him and the girl he loves. Does love recognize obstacles like that?

I think it does. And in this story, it should. At first, Salih believes love won’t recognize obstacles and that he can overcome everything. But as the family instincts inside him start to surface over time, he’ll begin to realize certain things.

◊ After Kardeşlerim, the job you chose next was very important. Why this series?

It was a completely different character from Ömer, the one I played before. Salih is someone who has lived through painful things. I wanted to experience his growth on the road to taking over his family, and his process of coming from New York and reconnecting with his roots in Adana.

“YOU CAN’T SAY THIS IS THE MOST SACRED JOB OF ALL”

◊ Are you one of those people who says, “If I don’t act, I’ll die”?

It’s not something to exaggerate that much. Passion is nice, but that’s it.

◊ Based on an actress Dilan Çiçek Deniz’s comment, there’s been a lot of talk lately about “Is acting sacred?” What’s your answer?

I’m someone who loves my job and respects my job. I make my money from this, I live off it, so for me it’s sacred—because it supports me. But you can’t say, “Among all jobs, this is the most sacred one.” You shouldn’t.

◊ What has acting taught you in the last 4–5 years?

That not everything is acting.

◊ No matter how well you act, do some things still not happen?

Yes. But for me to sleep peacefully at night, I need to do my job well. So my first focus is always acting.

◊ Do you think you’re a “leading man”?

I don’t really believe in that concept. You’re an actor.

◊ If you weren’t handsome, would you still be here today?

I would. I mean, “handsome” according to what? In my first job, I played someone with messy hair and bad clothes. And also—you don’t watch someone for two and a half hours just because they’re handsome.

◊ You’re handsome, talented, you have a very “magazine” relationship, but you live privately. How true is that?

To some people it’s true, to others it might be wrong. I like living life this way. My private life is my private life. You don’t know me as Yiğit—you know me as much as the characters I play. So there isn’t much meaning in knowing Yiğit too deeply. It makes me happier when you know me as the characters I portray.

“WHEN YOU ASK THESE OUT OF NOWHERE, LOOK—MY KNEE STARTS SHAKING”

◊ In our last interview you said, “In our family, women run the whole clan with one eyebrow.” Did you grow up in a dominant family?

My parents are from Trabzon. My grandmother is a very strong character, and my mom takes after her. My dad grew up in a village, worked hard, became a doctor—he’s an idealist. My mom never raises her voice at me. When she just lifts one eyebrow like this, I know there’s a problem. My dad speaks calmly, but he doesn’t have to repeat himself—you understand… I grew up in that kind of family. Our women were always strong.

◊ You once said you could be with someone who could “manage everyone just by lifting one eyebrow.” Did you find someone like that?

What do you think?

◊ Lizge (Cömert) has never lifted one eyebrow at me. Does she have that effect?

Hakan, I’m getting really tense right now. When you suddenly ask this stuff, look—my knee starts shaking (laughs).

◊ Since we’re here…

We’re not there. You brought us there…

◊ Okay, since you brought us here—last time, you both said there was nothing going on between you. Turns out you were together. Why did you do that to me?

At the time, we had a job together. We wanted the work to be talked about.

◊ So how did it start—on set?

That’s a stage. There’s no real emotion there. Outside the set, over a process, it happened.

◊ What kind of person does love turn you into?

There are changes in my inner rhythm. You don’t think or do things as one person anymore.

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