Murat Yildirim-Video

The announcer is giving a quick bio on Murat Yildirim, who interrupts the announcer to say "oh he is talking about me its as if I am not even here right?", he then proceeds in a laughing tone to tell the announcer that he can continue. The announcer continues explaining his education & then career move into television and the serials in which Murat Yildirim performed in. As the announcer explains that he married Burcin Terzioglu in 2008, Murat Yildirim interrupts comically and adds "oh my wife & gossip is included in this too", as the announcer continues listing off his accomplishments Murat Yildirim interrupts and says "you are embarrassing me, and tells the announcer that this much is enough, the announcer proceeds to tell him than you can have the floor and continue....applause

Murat Yildirims comments: First I would like to say, first and foremost that I came here for myself, I needed something like this, I did not come here for you, and I am curious to know why there are three gentlemen here....really this has attracted my attention....really its strange to see males....yes friends first I would like to thank you for inviting me here, yes we are taping a serial, we are performing, we are surviving and dealing with life on a day to day basis...at this time I really was feeling bad about now, and being here with you has helped me feel better about myself. I for giving me this feeling I want to thank you. I really have not prepared a specific conversation regarding this gathering, thinking this would create a more comfortable environment, we can continue on a question and answer type conversation or we can just be silent. If there is anyone who would like to ask me some questions please proceed I am listening to you. He asks if there is a podium ready and someone in the background acknowledges that there is, he proceeds.... A female announces that anyone who would like to ask a question please raise you hand. He asks is he going to pick the questioner and chooses one.

Question from the audience: Why did you know work in your chosen profession?
Murat Yildirim: When I was going to Istanbul, I actually was going for the sake of being in Istanbul, because the other options available to me to were for Medical Faculties, Mechanical Engineering, and other types of Engineering and other choices some of which had nothing to do with each other. Of course in Turkey an 18 year old young man still does not know what he wants, and what I really wanted at the time was to be in Istanbul with my friends, and with my mothers final persuasions I wrote in that I wanted the medical field on the forms, however because of the response to 1 of the questions I ended up in Mechanical Engineering, and if I had answered differently I might have been put into a different field. Joking he says that for the first 4 years he never attended Mechanical Engineering, but later I starting attending for theater, I was also interested in music, and in the two years I enjoyed it and it brought me too the stage which was very enjoyable. I then realized that this is what was going to bring me the most joy. So if a person at 18 and afterwards there is a difference in what that person wants then there might be a problem, its very important to know what you want to do. This is something that we discuss with my siblings a lot. When I ask during the taking of the entry test for University the response is not very clear....which to me now seems strange, but with me until I was introduced to theater I felt that I had no goals/desires as well....once I was introduced to theater I thought that I would only be involved in theater, I considered television, serials. After starting in theater some admirers that watched me perform and invited me to different venues and because it was things that I had considered I went to these venues and performed. And to be frankly honest I enjoyed being in front of the camera. But actual desires were theater and cinema, yes are we performing in serials the answer is yes, and we do our best and this is also a form of training however, our real desire in cinema. But if you ask me if I ever considered working as a Mechanical Engineer I would say no I have never thought of doing this. This is because if though I was good in mathematics, and my family really wanted me to be an Engineer or a Doctor, and I assume that this is the case for 50% of the people here, this seems to be a problem with most students here in Turkey.....It is like an intellectual person cannot become a Chef, or become something else that is the general consensus, that if someone is intellectual he/she must choose one of the popular professions. I am one of those people who were to sacrifice my desires to have to make this choice, and maybe I did not have to sacrifice and I was fortunate enough that I extended my years of education and went on to theatrics and I am currently doing a profession that I really love. But like I said based on the answers of my entry exams I might have been doing something else today, but had I finished the educational requirements for Mechanical Engineering on time, I probably would be a Mechanical Engineer right now. I might have been happier there is no way to know, but based on what I know now I am happy....Silence.....Then he asks what happens was my answer not satisfactory.....
He then proceeds to tell everyone that he came there by car...and that he really does not feel well, he thanked them again and mentions that wanted his friend (sorry I didn’t get the name) also to come to this event however, but he had to attend another event regarding a cinema debut, and that he sent is warmest regards.....any other questions

Question: Do you feel that you became popular too quickly and what is the secret to your success?

Murat: Actually I was not expecting this for another 4 years (with a chuckle), But being realistic I was not prepared this happened with the result of one serial, and to be considered a person that is much loved in the Middle East, forgetting the fact that I am an Actor, I view it more as being a person, I have to admit that I do not really find this as being too far fetched. Should this have happened because of 1 serial, in my opinion it should not have, if you are referring to it in this respect, yes it happened too soon. You can also say that this has a lot to do with popularity as was mentioned a few moments ago....as being a popular culture issue. But in the profession a person ends up in the popular culture type of situation and with this you work things out in your own way, trying to figure out where in this culture you actually want to be, and also because of this profession trying to shield myself personally is not possible because of being in the spotlight. But in all reality I don't want to question this too much, it does not make me feel good to do this.
It makes me feel bad about myself

Gentlemen asking a question first makes a comment that his girlfriends forced him to be there, in which Murat Yildirim responds forced! and repeats the gentlemen's comments that he was forced to be here by his girlfriends, he points out his girlfriends to Murat Yildirim and mentions them by name, and Murat Yildirim repeats the names and they wave to each other. He tells Murat Yildirim that because he is studying so hard that he really did not know who he was, but this was an opportunity to meet him. Murat Yildirim asks the audience if they can hear the comments being made by this gentlemen, in which the audience responds no, so Murat Yildirim proceeds to tell them that the gentlemen is saying what a good actor you are, and how handsome you are...The he repeats the actually conversation, the gentlemen proceeds to invite him to another school as well, as there are many females at his school as well who would be most happy to see him, in which Murat Yildirim responds "you are only here because of others" with a chuckle, he explains that most people who respond like this also say "can I take a picture for my mom or my sister, he has never had a picture taken just for that person, its always for someone else." "And you all are like that as well for your sister, or mother you are taking these pictures, and you are only here for your friends right?" The gentlemen says something about taking a picture with him so he can be in the newspapers, and he continues to ask if it would be possible for Murat Yildirim to come to his school to make the women of his school very happy as well, in which Murat Yildirim responds depending on his schedule it might be possible for the women of course, repeating as he takes a sip of water, for the women. the gentlemen continues with something regarding taking a picture. Murat Yildirim asks as he looks at his watch what is the date today, and jokes about the end of March, no the middle of April not exactly the middle of April, Maybe June 15th. He then says it might be possible to do in the middle of April, he points to someone and the gentlemen says he will give this person his card, and Murat Yildirim responds most definitely definitely and as this person goes to get the card Murat Yildirim asks for an extra one for himself. The gentlemen then proceeds to say he is going back to his seat, and Murat Yildirim says if you are uncomfortable please let me know, because at this point we are friends, and it was good that we met, we now know how he really feels.Murat Yildirim starts to discuss how many government buildings he noticed on his way to this University, and that he did not notice a single normal building on his way that they were all government buildings as he mentions the names of the buildings he does so in a comically manner the audience is laughing and he asks which one are they laughing at, also he comments about all the traffic for it being a Saturday that there is not this much traffic in Istanbul on a Saturday, May God help you all

ODTU Part 3 English Translation:

Murat: Ah Pardon (as the audience is laughing)
Female: Hello
Murat: Hello, how you doing
Female: Yes I am going to ask 1 second
Female: She is asking something not clear about his educational background, as to whether or not he studied drama, or was he involved in a drama club or association of sorts, large group smaller group
Murat: I was a member of the Yildiz Technical University Theater Club, some of the teachers taught us some things, it is there that I did 2 year of performing in the schools amateur drama club, yes it was a club at the school, yes a theater or drama club, afterwards I worked with Ercan Yazgan (not sure of spelling) for 1 year in the professional sector..
Female: How do you explain the jump from amateur to professional, I am studying theater as well, and I cannot imagine going from amateur to Ercan Yazgan that quickly, we are working to our fullest and cannot understand how this happened to you
Murat: The true fact is that being in Istanbul had a lot to do with this & a lot of benefits as well, also if you are lucky...
Female: Do you mean knowing someone, looks or charisma
Murat: What did you say ?
Female: Should I repeat?
Murat: No its not necessary...
(They joke about what she said but its not clear enough to translate)
Murat: When speaking of luck this is what I meant, if you have the ability, and someone in the audience happens to be in the business, and they like your performance, and as they follow you, they appreciate you abilities, and they give you an opportunity which you use wisely
Female: Are there any groups that attract attention more than others
Murat: I know that ODTU has a good reputation, Kazi (?) also has a good reputation, I did not want to single out just ODTU, not but seriously I do not that ODTU's School of Theater has a good reputation, do you perform on this stage
Female: We perform at the Engineering school, and we also practice there as well, Thank you
Female : Hello, you must be recognized by many people, based on the popularity of the serials which you have performed in, for example most people probably know you as Demir, how do you feel when people do this, and think that the character you portrayed is actually your personality
Murat: Serial, Television, its like when people purchase a television they actually also think that they have purchase the television channels, for example when flipping through the channels and they cannot find something to watch they blame the television. But in reality you purchased the television, and there are many channels to choose from, and if you don't like one you can switch to another channel. But there is a psychological side to this too, for example you purchase a DVD and watch it once and then it just sits there, but if the same movie comes on the television you watch it, this is a group psychological thing, everyone you know is watching it so you watch it as well. But in a serial where you we are in your home after 1 or 2 times, the public then starts to view us as one of them, I view you as my son, you look like my cousin, you look like my brother, this is a very nice thing that people feel this way. For me I like this thought process very much, really enjoying it as well. People have viewed me and Demir, or Savas or other names, this comes and will go, but what is really important is that I am Murat Yildirim, and I want to remain as myself.
I am still at the beginning of the road, actually really at the beginning in cinema as I have only 2 movies, and I am hopefully that I will be able to succeed,. Its like when I am answering everyone goes silent, did my answer satisfy you question. No I thank you

Female: I actually have two questions for you, first if you were really in Savas Baldar's position, and regarding Yasemin, Cicek, or your mother (from the laughter hard to understand) if you put your own personality into this how would you have reacted as the real you to the situations at hand? Second question it seems that you always portray a man in love, would you ever consider portraying someone different some thing out of the ordinary, for example someone who was insane, a madman, would you like to perform in something different like this? Thank you
Murat: Can you repeat the question? No only kidding....this is a question that is constantly being asked of me, and actually I am tired of answering this question, but I will answer it again, I do not compare myself to any character in which I portray, such as if it were me, because really believe me if I did this the scenes would not be realistic, and I would not be able to perform well, for example for me to say that I would not do this this way, or why would a person act this way, believe me these are not questions that I would ask myself. I say this is what this character is like, this is what the screenplay writers envisioned, and I add a little of what I think they are looking for to establish a character, but really believe me I do not think about what if it were me, I did this in the beginning and I was extremely unhappy, but then you start searching for other alternatives in what the screenplay says, which makes the screenplay void, but following the screenplay tells you what to do in writing, and that is what we need to follow and believe, therefore I do not think about it.
Female: A role outside of a man in love, abnormal
Murat: Abnormal! Insane! Of course this is something that I would like to do, for an actor this is something we all desire to perform different types of characters and become different type of people, to be someone else, to view life from another's point of view, and I am one of those actors I want to portray the abnormal, the morale, the insane of course I want to be greedy
Female: I would like to say something, that generally we all think that the serials are all viewed on television's only in Turkey, but I would like to add that Ask ve Ceza and previously ASI, have a very large following in Iran.
Murat: Are you Iranian
Female: Yes I have a Iranian background
Murat: I recognized that in your accent
Female: It viewed in Iran a lot, with a lot of anticipation, especially in Ask ve Ceza there was a scene in Iran, and really...
Murat: That was Istanbul, let me inform everyone, how we would go to Iran, that would be very difficult
Female: I just wanted to let you know of your following in Iran
Murat: Thank you
Female: I Thank you

Reporter: Hello, you just watched this movie, in short can we get your thoughts on this movie
Murat: Honestly (the name of the production company) it was a very nice film, there were sounds of laugher and crying, I really... liked it
Reporter: Thank you very much
Murat: Thank You