Demet Özdemir (born 26 February 1992) is a Turkish actress and former dancer known for her role in Erkenci Kuş, Çilek Kokusu and Adım Farah. She has been increasingly recognized for both her dancing and acting.[1][2][3]
Personal life
Demet Özdemir is a famous Turkish actress and former dancer. She was born on February 26, 1992, and hails from Izmit. She has two older siblings. Her parents got divorced and when she was seven years old, she moved to Istanbul, Turkey, with her mother and siblings. She experienced the 1999 Izmit earthquake.
Her grandmother was the one of Turkish minorities in Bulgaria. She immigrated from Bulgaria to Turkey. Her grandmother and her brother later immigrated to Germany.[4][5]
On 28 August 2022, she married musician and actor Oğuzhan Koç.[6] In April 2023, the couple announced that they were getting a divorce. They divorced on 8 May 2023.[7]
Dance career
Initially, Özdemir started dancing at 15.[8] She studied and danced at the same time to support her family.[5][9] She was a backup dancer for Bengü and later joined the dance group Efes Kızları.[3][10] Özdemir appeared in Mustafa Sandal's music video "Ateş Et ve Unut".[4]
Her appearances in TV series, including Erkenci Kuş, Love Tactics and Adım Farah, have earned her recognition. She is recognised for both her dance videos and her acting performances.
Even though Özdemir is known for acting, she revealed in a 2020 interview that acting wasn't her “first love.” Instead, she has been passionate about dancing since she was fifteen. She received training in dancing, but she does not think that dancing will be her only job in the future.
Although the actress is originally from Turkey, her ancestral roots also trace back to Bulgaria. She is 5 feet 7 inches tall and falls under the Pisces Zodiac sign. Her grandma relocated from Bulgaria to Turkey as she was part of a group of Turkish people who lived there. Later, her grandma and brother went on to live in Germany.
Acting career
Özdemir took theater and acting class from Şahika Tekand Studio for two years (between 2011 and 2013).[11] She had her first casting for Fox's fantasy series Sana Bir Sır Vereceğim (drama, fantasy, mystery) alongside her first partner Ekin Koç, playing the character "Aylin" with electric power. This role became phenomenon for young audience. The series developed a loyal fanbase.
She portrayed the character of "Ayla" -baronez Alina Sokolova in historical series Kurt Seyit ve Şura.(drama, history, romance) Ayla is a young Russian woman of noble birth now working as a laundress in Istanbul after fleeing the revolution in Russia.
She got a role as "Demet" in the movie Tut Sözünü (comedy, fantasy). She then played the character of "Aslı" on Star TV's romantic comedy series Çilek Kokusu. Özdemir also appeared in Bengü's music video "Hodri Meydan".[12]
In 2016, Özdemir played the lead role "Lale Yenilmez" in the Turkish romantic comedy series No 309. It ended on 25 October 2017 with 65 episodes. It was aired in Venezuela, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, Spain, Romania, and Hungary as well. Demet Özdemir and Furkan Palali, her partner in No 309, participated in LÖSEV's (Foundation for Children with Leukemia ) New Year's Eve ball "hello" to 2017 to cheer up children with leukemia.[13]
2017 she played in the dance-comedy film Sen Kiminle Dans Ediyorsun written by Burak Aksak, writer of the hit surreal comedy Leyla ile Mecnun.[14]
From 2018 to 2019, she played the lead role "Sanem" in the Turkish romantic comedy series Erkenci Kuş(Daydreamer) opposite Can Yaman.[15] Demet is the performer of the theme song "Günaydın" (Good Morning), composed by Cem Öget.[16] She received the Best Actress award at the 2019 Murex d'Or in Lebanon for her role in this series.[17][18]Erkenci Kuş aired many times as prime-time in Italy and the actress was invited at the popular entertainment show Verissimo.[19]
In November 2019, she became a brand ambassador for Pantene Turkey.[1]
Between 2019 and 2021, Özdemir played the lead role "Zeynep" in drama Doğduğun Ev Kaderindir(My Home, My Destiny). The series is produced by OGM Pictures, directed by Çağrı Bayrak and premiered on TV8 on 25 December 2019. The script was inspired by Gülseren Budayıcıoğlu's novel Camdaki Kız.[20] and is based on a true story. The Doğduğun Ev Kaderindir covered topics about violence and abuse against women and women's problems in society. The fans of the series were invited to join with the campaign "Support the Battle to End Violence against Women".[21]
On February 11, 2022, the Netflix film Aşk Taktikleri (Love Tactics)[22] directed by Emre Kabakuşak was released, in which she played the lead role of Aslı Yıldırım alongside actor Şükrü Özyıldız.
Becoming an ambassador for the release of Disney+ Turkiye,[23][24] she starred as the lead in drama Dunyayla Benim Aramda[25][26] with other prominent actors including Bugra Gülsoy, Hafsanur Sancaktutan, Zerrin Tekindor and Metin Akdülger It follows the character of Ilkin (Özdemir) who worries that the love of her life, a famous actor, is no longer in love with her. One day, she decides to reach out to him from a fake social media account and almost creates the woman who can seduce her lover with her own hands.
In 2023, she plays the female lead "Farah" in Adım Farah[27] (action, crime, drama), which was aired in Fox TV (NOW) with male lead [Engin Akyürek]. Adım Farah is adaption from the award-winning Argentinian series “La Chica Que Limpia”, The plot follows the story of Farah Ershadi, an Iranian who escaped to Turkey and works as a cleaner to earn money after committing a crime in Iran. She lives for her son Kerimshah who suffers with an autoimmune condition. On a cleaning shift, she witnesses a murder and meets Tahir Lekesiz (Engin Akyürek), a mafia member who was taken in by Aga (Ali Galip Akinci) as his own when his parents tragically died in an unknown event. Tahir, heartless and stern, is ordered to kill Farah after witnessing the event, but events take place which change everything. Özdemir was chosen as the actor of the year (2023) by Socipol members.[28]
On July 14 of the same year, the Netflix film sequel Ask Taktikleri 2 (Love Tactics 2) directed by Recai Karagöz was released, a sequel to the film Aşk Taktikleri, in which she reprised the role of the protagonist Aslı Yıldırım alongside actor Şükrü Özyıldız.[29]
In October 2024, Demet is participating in the shooting of the movie Cinlerin Düğünü, directed by Ferit Karahan. The film will be released in 2025. [2]
Demet participated in the jury of the 21th Cinema of the Future Competition (Geleceğin Sineması Yarışması), which has organized with the contributions of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and which aim is to discover new talents of cinema.[35]
