Timuçin Esen

Timuçin Esen — Biography

Mahmut Timuçin Esen was born on 14 August 1973 in Adana, the child of two lawyers, and his family originally comes from Niğde. After graduating from TED Ankara College, he spent two years studying theatre at the Ankara University State Conservatory before completing his training at Mimar Sinan University. He pursued further theatre studies in Italy and the United States, earned a graduate degree in film and directing at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, and trained with the renowned acting coach Larry Moss. During his student years he directed the medium-length film Çıkmaz Sokak.

On returning to Turkey he became widely known in 2003 as Hakkı Ağa in the series Gurbet Kadını. His portrayal of Halil in the film Gönül Yarası, alongside Şener Şen and Meltem Cumbul, brought him Best Supporting Actor honours from both the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and the critics' association SİYAD. He won further praise as Çınar in the police series Hırsız Polis, appeared on stage in Mikado'nun Çöpleri, and received the Ayhan Işık Special Award for the film Labirent.

After series such as Gönül İşleri and Bodrum Masalı, he reached a career peak in 2018 by playing singer Müslüm Gürses in Müslüm, performing the songs himself in what became the year's most-watched Turkish film. He later starred as the doctor Ateş Hekimoğlu in Hekimoğlu and has continued with projects including Gassal, İlk ve Son, Kalpazan and Erken Kış.