"I am excited, I am still on the beginning of the road"
For a while Cagatay Ulusoy is beholding the grade of cinema beyond the dream he had when 19 years old 28 December 2015 Not every human has a share of the equation dreams-reality, waking up almost damning every day and crawling around. There are lucky people among us. That come to the point they have not even dreamt of, remain there and as if that was not sufficient struggling to exceed the existing grade. I met one...with whom we took our first steps in 2009 at Istanbul University - Forest Faculty, Bahcekoy campus, that I dropped gradually because I started entering in the magazine way...those days he was dreaming to be a basketball trainee but today as he reached 25 years, because of the life he achieved he can form this sentence: "I will buy a house in Los Angeles now". For most of us is a dream that doesn't even pass through our mind. It can be that when he was 19, we encountered together at the same campus with the person who is in front of me, we could have gone by the same bus at school furthermore we could have even sat in the next tables at the buttery of school. But now Cagatay Ulusoy who is waiting for my questions on the other side of the table, is in a totally different place with his cinema film after his series. Let there not be any envy conclusion from what I said. It's not like that. And I am not in a state to enter in competition with him, I am not neither as much talented, nor as much handsome. The one who has self-confidence let appear in front of him, I give up. I can only ask questions to him and I did that anyway. He starts talking with: "I get really excited, I couldn't overcome this feeling in one way or another" . When he attempts to ask something I interfere "I am the one who asks in here" and start the interrogation with the tone of "How's life going?" . Probably while you are reading these pages you will see them in many publications, watch in TV fragments as he answers about the movie Delibal where he is the protagonist. Because his mind is there: "I am in good mood, I am a little excited now, I have the cinema work. This is a project I embraced a lot. Nearly 1,5 years ago the idea came out. Before the first season of Medcezir ended, I wanted to work in cinema project. I told to out director Ali Bilgin: Abi let's do a cinema film, something different with a deeper subject. He said: OK, let's talk with the producer (Kerem Catay). We went, talked, they said: form the team, scenarists were arranged and the project developed..."
The way to school was filled with suffering
The shift Avcilar-Bahcekoy for Cagatay Ulusoy who now is aiming to build a life between Istanbul and Los Angeles was pretty painful in his frist year at University. We are talking how I was also sickede with the geographical position of Bahcekoy. He tells us:
We had to take three different means of transport. In those times the metro bus was only until Cevizilbag. I got out from Cevizilbag, by bus to Zincirlikuyu, then from there I got a bus line 42T or 42M, i don't remember well. The way fatigued us. That time I worked as photographer too. On the way back from school I worked as a photographer of an agency in Mecideyekoy, for earning my pocket money. It was the period when I applied for the competition of Best Model.
Let's talk about Delibal a little, without giving details. Baris (Cagatay Ulusoy), a boy who doesn't suit in his container, hipster, drummer and who studies architecture, falls in love with the successful scholarship student Fusun (Leyla Lydia Tugutlu) who can't see anything else except studies, and the events develop... Let's give you one more detail: It's a sad film. You will watch the rest now. This is the presentation of Cagatay Ulusoy about the film: "We wanted to do something that can't be done, be different, make the difference...I think that iit's nice and will be liked. We did our best"
"We did our best" it's not just an expression. For this movie he took drummer classes from the musician Serkan Ayman for 5 months. This way he added drums to the guitar that he started playing before when he was 17 years old. The instrument seems to be important: "While the scenario was being developed, the idea that the character in movie has to be associated with an instrument, came out. Since I already loved music a lot, I got excited. With a common decision drums were decided. I think that it was great choice. This instrument thrusts to the forefront the character that is full of mad things. It was useful for me eve in the acting side. The most important thing is that now I found an instrument like drums which can help me rehabilitate in my life. You can create a topic even over the instrument, in the movie. It's something that6 has an opened end. The more things you know the more different characters you can enter in. I knew playing the guitar in Medcezir, I took it on my hands, they wrote scenario and I sung songs."
The character that he played in the movie and which I called "hipster" and is defined as "underground" by Ulusoy, in real life is totally the opposite of him: " it is very far from me. I am not such a hyperactive person. I am more serious compared to him. He does everything without thinking, I think about every step I take." - he says. I witness this in the phot shooting too. A video shooting is being done, after it ends his manager, shows his hesitant way: Afterwards he will say "Iy's not good, let's make it again". It happens like that for real.: "Can we film it again"?
He starts explaining when I tell him: "You are very hesitant and think too much": "Let's say I am sure-footed... I want the work that we are doing to be beautiful, it is only for that reason. First of all I have the right. Because when it's out it's late. It happens in shootings too, it happened in the movie too: in the places where I see myself inefficient I request to do it again. In series we have right for such a thing too but since we work in a very intensive tempo there, if you do this constantly it can be annoying. This is why cinema makes me feel better, I am more secure in myself for the work I do. Because we have time. It happened like this here too. There were some difficult scenes, I asked 1-2 times more. Thanks to our professor, he didn't let me down".
He told me about those scenes they filmed more than once, but I would be giving spoiler for the development of story to those who didn't watch. I won't tell it at all. But I can tell you that he will start a new series in next September, the preparations for this started last August, according to his words it will be more "crime" series and for this reason he took weapons training in USA. The details are known but not declared yet.
He lives an intense life. I am curious to know if he has friends, what does he do and so on. He tells: "My childhood passed in Avcilar side, most of my close people are there. When I go to meet my family, I meet them too. In general since we have day off at the same time with friends I work with, we spend time together. I think I have good contacts with people. I have good friendships, I know many people. But there are very few people I can call them good friends".
He considers positive the fact of spending a lot of time with his colleagues. He thinks that this is an advantage in knowing people: "Both Medcezir and Adini Feriha Koydum added many friendships in my life. I still meet them".
Acting's character? Maybe...
The fact that he won Best Model 2010, followed by series career and last in cinema remembers us a similar way to Kenan Imirzalioglu. I ask: "I started with Feriha series. I was in front of the camera for the first time then. I knew nothing, neither in the technical meaning nor in acting. But as the time went by I set my mind to do this work. I said I would do my best for developing myself. I sustain my living doing this. I feel this, there was difference between Feriha and Medcezir. There is difference between Medcezir and Delibal too. So I think I am going in the right way. This is important for spiritual pleasing of both the audience and myself. I want to do different things, I want to go every time upper. My next series will be more different from Delibal. I feel I am developing."
This development caused excitement too of course. "Cinema has one more attractive side. It has a big responsibility. This is why I am excited, I am tensed. I am waiting with curiosity for the comments that will come. The fragment was released, those who watched made very beautiful comments. I felt very happy. Err, how can I explain it...I am excited. It's been a long time I haven't been so excited" - when saying this he tells that for the first time after Medcezir's 1 Episode was aired he is in a spiritual state like this. 2,5 years have passed after that: "We work so hard and we want that a good thing comes out, we do our best. We spend a lot of time. All our time passes on set. I think it's very normal that I am excited and tensed"
Career comes before everything
When I bring the subject to the critics, it gets deep. He says that he is opened for critics and he takes into consideration the comments, He will read the critics about film without fail. He starts explaining: " There is something, they don't give people the necessary time. I came out from the competition. I follow it, they do the same with the friends that came out recently. Probably this is how this system works. I can't understand this either. In some point of time maybe it happened to Kenan abi (Imirzalioglu) and Kivanc too. But it happened to me, I can tell about that. You come out from the competition and start a series, people start criticizing you without giving you some time. They say things like: they put a model there, what do models understand from acting...and so on. They don't even give you the chance to develop yourself. Suddenly you get tough reactions that demoralize you. You wonder: am I doing the wrong thing? I did some things better and comments changed. But it's always the same system. Tough critics are done to the friends who have recently come from the competition. I think this is wrong. You should give them time".
At the end Lakers is the team of our district
Cagatay Ulusoy likes playing basketball a lot. He says that he still plays when he finds time. Even though he is friends with the active basketball player Semih Erden, by saying: he doesn't play with us, he explains that he didn't face with professional players. When he says he was in Los Angeles, I ask him if he bought a Lakers combination like Jack Nicholson. He went to the match, perhaps for the combination:
"I went to Lakers-Clippers match. I am very curious about the atmosphere. You watch it on TV but everything is bigger and more gigantic...the shows and so on. When we come to combination subject, Lakers is the team of our district... I don't like watching sports so much. I played football too on my own. I still go on the state field matches. I don't enjoy watching, I don't know why. And my friends don't like that habit of mine. I don't enjoy watching it, I like playing more".
He opened a new chapter on his life and doesn't want anything to make him lose his mode. He aims to live the American dream: "America has been on my plans for a long time now. I was thinking before 4-5 years ago, if I could find some free time and go for developing the idiom skills. Because one has to live there. I was there for 2.5 months. I have just got used to their culture of living, I have just entered in some circles of people. I go in acting courses and get professional training. This year I will buy a house. As a further plan I intend to live between here and there. I will come here for work and return there for living".
We didn't enter in heart issues during our conversation: I play the dice in marriage, forming family and having kids issue too but he kicks it back: " Now I am focused on my career, it's not time for talking about these. It's very early. I have my goals and things I want to do. At least I will try my luck in America. I don't want to hurry up, I really want to walk with secure steps. This is why I will try to develop myself first and after I will try. I have the age advantage too".
We can't know how was his image on your head until now but if Cagatay Ulusoy was a cinema project today we would summarize him like this: A young, sober-minded man who invests on himself, gives importance to his career, without extremism and very handsome!
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