Can Yaman was among the guests on the third evening of the 2026 BCT Festival in Benevento. Fresh from the success of Sandokan and preparing to begin filming Bro, a new series announced by Prime Video, the Turkish actor opened up in this video interview.
Can Yaman was also a guest at the tenth edition of the BCT Film and Television Festival in Benevento. Following the huge success of Sandokan, which premiered at the 2026 Rome Film Festival and became one of the most acclaimed projects of his career, the Turkish actor has been touring Italian festivals to meet his fans. We caught up with him for a chat, and here is what he told us.
BCT Festival Benevento 2026, Can Yaman Opens Up: “After Sandokan, I Felt the Need for a Change”
Yaman’s next project is Bro, a comedy series produced for Prime Video in which he will reunite with Giovanni Nasta, his co-star from both seasons of Viola come il mare, the Canale 5 drama that cemented his popularity with Italian audiences.
For the first time in his career, Can will play a lawyer caught up in a series of complicated family situations, with plenty of comedic moments along the way. Made up of eight episodes, the comedy will follow two half-brothers who are complete opposites: Riccardo, played by Nasta, and Nicola Ridolfi, played by Yaman. Riccardo is brilliant but has a disastrous love life, while Nicola is awkward yet charming and highly skilled at connecting with other people.
After repeatedly playing confident characters and taking on projects that required intense physical preparation, Yaman is now ready to step into a completely different role. During a round-table interview with several journalists, he explained why he decided to accept Bro and unexpectedly revealed when filming will begin:
“I wanted to do something different. I made Sandokan, then I took some time to relax, and now I want a complete change. I want to challenge myself with this series alongside Giovanni Nasta. He came up with the idea: I’ll play the one who is awkward with women, while he’ll be the sex symbol. He fell in love with the concept and pitched it to me. I’ll have to bring out a side of my personality that was much more obvious when I was younger. I studied a lot and wasn’t very sociable. This series will allow me to take on a completely new and lighter role. I felt the need to unwind. Filming will begin very soon, on July 27. We’re ready.”
Compared with the early days of his career, Can Yaman now has a much clearer idea of the direction he wants to take. After playing the “classic handsome leading man” in Turkish dramas, he has moved into more complex projects now that he is in his thirties, including Sandokan and Il Labirinto delle Farfalle. He also knows that his career will continue to evolve over the coming years.
“I always knew that I would want to keep changing. When I’m 40, I’ll want to do different things again. But in life, you have to wait for the right moment,” the Turkish actor said.
Is Can Yaman’s Movie Debut Getting Closer? The Actor Says: “Only If the Right Opportunity Came Along”
Following the success of an iconic role such as Sandokan, would Can Yaman be interested in following in the footsteps of actors like Kabir Bedi and playing another equally famous character? The Turkish star does not believe that such an experience would be easy to repeat.
“I don’t think there are any characters here in Europe quite as iconic as Sandokan. Perhaps it would be different in the United States. But generally speaking, there are many characters I’ve seen in other series that I would have loved to play, and I think I would have done a good job if I had been offered those roles.”
After starring in Turkish dramas, Italian productions such as Viola come il mare and successful international series including El Turco and Sandokan, the only thing still missing from Can Yaman’s career is a movie debut. However, the big screen is not among his immediate ambitions.
“It isn’t one of my dreams, and after Covid, the entire situation changed. Production companies prefer to invest in television series rather than films for a whole range of commercial reasons. It isn’t like it used to be.”
Nevertheless, Yaman admitted that if the right offer came along, he would be willing to embark on that new adventure as well.
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