Mehmet Kurtuluş

Mehmet Kurtuluş
Kurtuluş in 2015
Born (1972-04-27) 27 April 1972 (age 52)
Uşak, Turkey
OccupationActor
Years active1993–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2005; div. 2013)​

Mehmet Kurtuluş (born 27 April 1972) is a Turkish-German actor. He is best known for his work with German director Fatih Akin.

Life and career

Kurtuluş was born in Uşak, Turkey, and moved at the age of 18 months to Germany, where he grew up with his brother, Tekin, in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony.[1]

He performed several minor television roles in episodes of different TV shows and continued working in theater until his big-screen debut in his main role as the young Turkish boy Gabriel in Fatih Akın's film Kurz und schmerzlos (Short Sharp Shock). After his breakthrough he appeared in the successful TV mini-series The Tunnel, of Roland Suso Richter, where he performed alongside Heino Ferch and Nicolette Krebitz. Doris Dörrie chose him for her sex comedy Naked. He went back to working in television with the love film Eine Liebe in Saigon (Love in Saigon) with Luxembourgian actress Désirée Nosbusch (to whom Kurtuluş was engaged[2]).

Kurtuluş played the main detective role in six episodes of the cult German television series Tatort.[2][3] He announced afterwards that he would be working on international projects.[4] In 2014, he co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson and Ray Stevenson in the Finnish-British action thriller Big Game.[5]

Filmography

Film

  • 1996: Getürkt (Short) - Ilami
  • 1998: Short Sharp Shock (Kurz und schmerzlos) - Gabriel
  • 2000: In July - Isa
  • 2001: The Tunnel - Vittorio 'Vic' Castanza
  • 2001: Heart [de] - Cem Rüya
  • 2001: Boran - Deniz Akim
  • 2002: Naked - Dylan
  • 2002: Equilibrium - Search Coordinator
  • 2003: Abdülhamit Düşerken - Sefik Bey
  • 2004: Head-On (Gegen die Wand) - Barmann Istanbul
  • 2004: Soundless - Sicherheitschef des Russen
  • 2007: Pars: Kiraz operasyonu - Atilla Karahan
  • 2009: Vasha - Artur
  • 2010: Transfer - Laurin
  • 2014: Big Game - Hazar
  • 2014: Head Full of Honey - Dr. Holst
  • 2015: Famous Five 4 [de] - Farouk
  • 2015: 8 Seconds - Sami
  • 2016: Tereddüt - Cem / Sehnaz's Husband
  • 2017: Schneeflöckchen - Feuer
  • 2019: Lady Winsley - Fergan
  • 2019: Abikalypse - Mustis Vater
  • 2024: Mary - Baba ben Buta

Television

Awards

References

  1. ^ Smee, Jess (3 November 2008). "International: Turkish delight at German cult series' new hero". The Guardian. London. p. 24.
  2. ^ a b "Neuer TV-Kommissar Kurtulus". Der Spiegel (in German). 20 October 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  3. ^ Keil, Christopher (17 May 2010). "Ich bin nicht gecastet worden". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  4. ^ Hanfeld, Michael (4 March 2011). "Mehmet Kurtulus spielt nur noch zweimal". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Rare Exports Director and Samuel L. Jackson Hunt Big Game". Dread Central. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  6. ^ Roxborough, Scott (16 November 2011). "Til Schweiger to Return to German TV for Hit Series 'Tatort'". hollywoodreporter.com.