Nik Xhelilaj

Nik Xhelilaj — Biography

Born Kreshnik Xhelilaj on 5 March 1983 in Tirana, Nik Xhelilaj trained as an actor at Tirana's Faculty of Fine Arts before moving from the stage into film. He made his cinema debut in 2008 with The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider, directed by brothers Piro and Eno Milkani, and went on to appear in a run of critically acclaimed Albanian productions.

His performance in the 2010 film The Albanian brought him wider international recognition, earning him Best Actor honors at the Moscow International Film Festival, the Pristina International Film Festival and Turkey's Golden Orange Film Festival. In Germany, he became widely known for his lead role in the 2016 remake of the Winnetou trilogy.

Xhelilaj later built an extensive career in Turkey as well, becoming a familiar face to Turkish television audiences through roles in productions such as Kayıp Şehir, Nefes Nefese and Payitaht Abdülhamid; he has described Istanbul as feeling like a second home to him.