Ulash Tuna Astepe: “Tormented” is a series that has a conscience”

Honesty, loyalty, devotion to ideals. Do you recognize? This is Tahir from the Tortured project, which will premiere on April 15 at 19.00! Or, after all, Ulash Tuna Astepe is the performer himself, who chose the character for a reason. The actor put a lot of his character and noble soul into the hero of the poignant story of a new Turkish project on Home.

Start from the bottom

Of course, the young guy from the provinces, which Ulash was in those years when he came to Istanbul to become an actor, did not have to shoot at point-blank range and save poor girls from cruel tormentors. But there was more than enough romanticism in him. No money, no acquaintances, no professional training – only a burning desire to give all of himself to the magical art. A version is circulating on the Web that Astepe got into the series from the costume team, as if it was an accident. Not at all, the guy put much more effort into moving towards success. But the story behind the work of staff behind the scenes is not fiction.

In fact, behind the scenes, I was working my last year of high school. I needed someone to prepare me for the exam at the conservatory (Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts), I was a youngster who came to Istanbul without money and studied at the boarding school here. I could not find such people in my environment. So I got a job as a costume assistant through a family friend.

Despite the simple service work, it should be noted that a good place was found for a schoolboy. It was the series “Ottoman Republic”, so there really were enough costumes. Among other things, not the last people in Turkish popular culture came to the site – for example, Sezen Aksu, Turkey’s favorite, singer and composer of a lot of songs. It is difficult to say whether this area taught him something acting, but, according to him, that experience helped him not get sick with star fever when fame came. By his own example, he learned what a titanic and important work the team does, so the popularity of the hero is not only the merit of the one who played the role.

Learn to be an artist

The actor finds his pleasure where he is supposed to – in creativity. One way or another, Ulash went where he aspired, and this is still enough for him to be happy. He considers not the time of popularity to be the most interesting in his biography, but those careless student years that were filled, on the one hand, with concentrated study, reading a lot of literature and serious trainings, and on the other hand, with unbridled fun, communication, new discoveries and a sense of fullness of life. . Within the walls of the University of Sinan, which is famous for its strict academic teaching and harsh rules, this romantic managed not to whine and complain about cruel teachers, but to breathe the real air of a creative life.

You have a suit on, a diction stick in your mouth, a text, a guitar, a cane and a hat in your hands, and a theater in your heart. We were people from different worlds, but together somersaults along the corridors, read lines, thought and worked on amazing tasks. The combination of the mind blowing that my acting education has brought with the street curiosity that young people have has made my life a fair.

Ulash, by the way, was an idealist for a long time and firmly stood on the position that involves working only in the theater. He treated serials and the like with disdain, focusing on the distance that exists between the highly artistic texts of the classics and the everyday language of simple everyday stories. Once he starred in a feature film, but he saw himself exclusively on the theater stage. But one role changed everything.

Are you my brother or not?

In 2013, Ulash gets a prominent character in the inimitable action series Uncle Kara. Three seasons, more than a hundred episodes and over thirty awards – these are the figures of the crime drama. Having played the younger brother of the protagonist here, the actor changes his mind about the “stupid” series. By the way, in the storyline of his character – impossible love and the kidnapping of a girl. It looks like a sign.

Another topic that periodically pops up in the work of the actor is the role of younger brothers. In “Tormented”, which viewers can watch on Home, his hero Tahir is also one of the younger men of the Kaleli family and his fate often depends on the decisions of the elder Mustafa. But even before his stellar work, and then after, Ulash Tuna constantly got into plot stories about brotherly friendship and contradictions. Not only in the frame, but also on the stage. For several years of service, Ulash took part in three productions of various popular troupes in Istanbul. In the play “Flag” Astepe, for example, went on stage with Okan Yalabik (Ibrahim Pasha in “The Magnificent Century”). Leaves of Glass by British playwright Philip Ridley reveals the complex psychological problems of the relationship between the brothers Stephen and Barry. And, finally, in the historical story about the brothers-naval commanders of Barbarossa, the actor got the role of the legendary Hayreddin Pasha, who managed to surpass his elder brother Aruj in naval glory.

Well, in 2023, Ulash will turn only 35, and besides, his captivating young appearance probably makes directors want to offer the story of a young man who is still quite temperamental and not bored with life, who has great victories ahead. In any case, the actor has personal experience – he is also the younger brother in his family.

Inna Shkarbanova.

Photos from filming