Selim Bayraktar

Selim Bayraktar — Biography

Born in Kirkuk on 17 June 1975, Selim Bayraktar is an actor of Iraqi Turkmen background. He and his family moved to Turkey in 1987, where he finished secondary school, and he later earned a theatre degree from the Ankara State Conservatory, part of Hacettepe University, graduating in 2000. He first worked with the Diyarbakır State Theatre before joining the Antalya State Theatre in 2007, where his stage credits included Othello, Sırça Kümes, Bay Kolpert and Kardeş Gelini, and he directed the play Cıbıl Kurt. He entered television in 2006 playing Erdal in the series Köprü, then took the role of Mahmut Pasha in Bir Bulut Olsam in 2009. He became widely known for playing the eunuch Sümbül Ağa in Muhteşem Yüzyıl starting in 2011, and gained international recognition as Çandarlı Halil Pasha in Netflix's Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020), a role he reprised in TRT's Mehmed: Fetihler Sultanı. He has also built a film career with credits including Vezir Parmağı, İstanbul Kırmızısı, Daha, Kanlı Girdap, Aşk Sana Benzer, Orman, Olur Olur! and Kırmızı.