Kaan Urgancıoğlu

Kaan Urgancıoğlu — Biography

Kaan Urgancıoğlu is one of the most widely seen faces of Turkish television abroad. As Emir Kozcuoğlu in Kara Sevda he reached more than 110 countries, and the series became the first Turkish production to win an International Emmy. Yargı, in which he played İlgaz Kaya, won the same prize and earned him the Golden Butterfly for Best Actor.

Born in İzmir, he was studying capital markets and stock exchange at Marmara University when, in 2002, on the suggestion of the family friend Demet Akbağ, he went in front of a camera. His first role was the lead in Karaoğlan, adapted from a historical comic strip; youth series such as Kampüsistan followed, and his first feature was Ispanaktan Nağmeler (2005). After finishing his degree in 2007 he studied acting at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York, then returned to complete a master's in film and drama at Kadir Has University; he also acted in Çetin Sarıkartal's play Ara. The turning point was Kara Sevda in 2015, a role that also earned him an Ayaklı Gazete TV Stars award. He went on to Netflix's Aşk 101 and, from 2021, to Yargı, sharing the lead with Pınar Deniz.

Internationally he appeared in Guy Ritchie's Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023). He married in 2023 and has a son. As a WWF-Türkiye Nature Ambassador he observes migratory birds.