Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan

Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan — Biography

The son of a father of Albanian descent and a mother of Circassian descent, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan spent his childhood in several cities because of his father's work as a mine operator. After studying economics at Gazi University, he graduated in 1989 from the theatre department of Hacettepe University's Ankara State Conservatory and began working at the Diyarbakır State Theatre; he became a founding member and the first chairman of the State Theatre Artists' Association (DETİS).

He began appearing in television and film from 1996, and after series such as Yılan Hikayesi, Kurşun Yarası, Çapkın and Ezo Gelin, gained wide recognition as İskender in Leyla ile Mecnun. In cinema he drew attention for his role in Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da, which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, and won best-actor awards at the Golden Boll festival for Made in Europe and at the Antalya Golden Orange for Gelincik (2020).

In recent years he has appeared in series such as Aziz, Kızılcık Şerbeti and Hayat Sırları; since 2022 he has hosted the NTV program Empati and has collected his experiences in a book-length interview.