Doğu Demirkol

Doğu Demirkol — Biography

Doğu Demirkol was born on 6 September 1988 in Ankara to a lawyer mother from Mersin and a doctor father of Circassian descent from Balıkesir; he attended middle school in Amasya and high school in Ankara before graduating in computer engineering from Istanbul University. He drew attention with comedy videos on social media and competed on Yetenek Sizsiniz Türkiye in 2012; after comedian Murat Gençoğlu spotted him performing at Old City Comedy Club he was invited to BKM Mutfak, and in 2015 he began his stage career with the Açık Mikrofon shows at Beşiktaş Cultural Center. He entered cinema in 2018 as Zafer in Ölümlü Dünya, and that same year took the lead as Sinan Karasu in Ahlat Ağacı, which screened at Cannes; together with a later film this made him the fifth actor with two films put forward as Turkey's Academy Award submission for Best International Feature. He moved to television with Tutunamayanlar in 2020, and in 2021 both wrote and starred in Doğu, an absurdist comedy inspired by his own life; in 2024 he wrote and co-led his first film, Yaşam Koçu, opposite Yağmur Tanrısevsin. He has also judged on Maske: Kimsin Sen? and hosted his own talk show.