Nik Xhelilaj

Nik Xhelilaj — Biography

Albanian actor Nik Xhelilaj, born Kreshnik Xhelilaj, moved from Albanian cinema to recognition in Germany and Turkey. His international breakthrough was The Albanian; in 2016 he reached a wide German audience as the lead of the Winnetou trilogy remake, and in Turkey he became a regular face in series and films.

Born in Tirana, he was sent at fourteen to a military high school in Istanbul at his father's wish, but left after four months and returned to Albania. He had meant to study law, turned to acting classes instead, and in 2003 entered the Academy of Arts in Tirana to study acting. Barely through his first year, he was cast by Piro Milkani in the lead of The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider; the producers found Kreshnik hard to pronounce, and he became known as "Nik". The film was Albania's Oscar submission in 2008. Alive! followed, then Johannes Naber's The Albanian (2010), which brought him best actor awards at the Moscow and Pristina festivals and at Turkey's Golden Orange. That same year he took part in the first season of Dancing with the Stars in Albania.

In Turkey he has appeared in Kayıp Şehir, Her Sevda Bir Veda, Payitaht Abdülhamid, Nefes Nefese, Direniş Karatay and Uyanış: Büyük Selçuklu, and in Germany in the series 4 Blocks. He calls Istanbul his second home.