Burak Özçivit

The luck of a family casting call

Burak Özçivit never set out to become an actor. In 2003, his father sent his photos to the Best Model of Turkey contest without telling him, and although he was eliminated the first time, he returned in 2005 to win first place. That triumph on Istanbul's runways opened the doors of television but also pinned on him a pretty-face label that took years to shake off.

His real on-camera debut came in 2006 with the series Eksi 18. It was a minor role in which he played a young police commissioner. But in Turkey the industry moves fast, and he soon moved on to projects such as Zoraki Koca in 2007, where he began refining the restrained leading-man style that appeals so much to international audiences.

And the effort paid off.

In 2010, he took part in Küçük Sırlar, the Turkish adaptation of Gossip Girl. The project helped him connect with a young audience looking for fresh style icons. It came just before his career made its decisive leap into period productions that would establish him as a major actor.

The mustache that changed an industry

In 2011, he took on the role of Malkoçoğlu Bali Bey in the series Muhteşem Yüzyıl. He wasn't the absolute lead, but his physical presence and that period mustache ended up stealing the spotlight from the kings of the plot. That's when Spanish audiences started to notice him years later, when Spain's TV networks discovered the goldmine of Turkish dramas.

But his true trial by fire came in 2013 with Çalıkuşu. On that shoot he met Fahriye Evcen, and the chemistry carried through the lens so strongly that the press talked about nothing else. The series was not a runaway ratings hit at the time, but it served as the perfect testing ground for what would come next in his personal and professional life.

In 2014, he decided he didn't want to depend solely on other people's contracts. He founded his own production company, BRK’S Production, to finance his own projects and have full control over the scripts that reached his desk. That is how he produced the film Aşk Sana Benzer in 2015, where he once again shared the screen with his wife before marrying in 2017.

The Kara Sevda Phenomenon

In 2015, he played Kemal Soydere. The series Kara Sevda broke geographic barriers, and in 2017 it won the International Emmy Award for Best Telenovela. It was the first Turkish production to achieve this milestone. That drama about an impossible love across social classes turned him into a global face who no longer needed an introduction at the markets in Cannes or Madrid.

The money started coming in, little by little.

In 2019, he took on the challenge of playing Osman I in Kuruluş: Osman. For this role he spent months training with horse riding and sword-fighting specialists at a military camp built specifically for the series. The physical transformation was obvious, as he had to build muscle mass and grow out his hair over the years to keep the character's historical continuity.

The physical demands of shooting in Riva are extreme. Filming days often exceed fifteen hours under the sun or snow, and Özçivit performs his own risky stunts without using doubles for close-range scenes. This commitment has taken a toll in the form of back injuries he has had to treat between seasons.

In 2023, he renewed his contract to continue the epic saga while managing his investments outside the sets. His businesses include a restaurant chain called Balibey Döner, which he opened in honor of the character that first made him famous. The main location in the Levent neighborhood closed its doors after a few years of irregular activity due to problems with the building's rent.