İlker Kaleli

İlker Kaleli — Biography

İlker Kaan Kaleli is a television and film actor best known for the lead in the series Poyraz Karayel. Coming to acting through music and training abroad, he first drew notice in Turkish television as İrfan in Kayıp Şehir and then secured a lasting place with the title role of Poyraz.

Born in Istanbul, Kaleli was drawn to music as a teenager, played guitar, formed a band with friends and gave concerts, and improved his English while working out Nirvana lyrics. His first time in front of a camera was at sixteen, in a commercial. He graduated from the Arts Management department of İstanbul Kültür University and worked as a DJ for a while. He then went to London to study acting at LAMDA, and he is said to have been the only one of 25 Turkish applicants accepted. He also took classes with Şahika Tekand's Stüdyo Oyuncuları.

Although he said he had no plans to act in Turkish series, he played Alper in Son on atv in 2012 and then İrfan in Kanal D's Kayıp Şehir, sharing the lead with Gökçe Bahadır. The series Kayıp and the 2014 film Silsile followed. In Poyraz Karayel (2015-2017) he shared the lead with Burçin Terzioğlu. In 2020 he played the lead Akif in Öğretmen, and in 2024 he had a part in The Turkish Passion. He speaks English well.