Can Yaman Turkish Actor Known for Erkenci Kuş

Early life

Can Yaman, a Turkish actor and model, was born on 8 November 1989 in Istanbul. On his father's side he is of Albanian origin; his paternal grandfather grew up in Pristina and his paternal grandmother in Skopje. He went to primary school at Bilfen College and then to the Liceo Italiano in Istanbul, and he speaks Turkish, Italian, English and German along with some Spanish. He later studied at Eastern Mediterranean University and graduated in 2012 from the law faculty of Yeditepe University.

Before acting, Yaman worked as a lawyer. He joined the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he met the people who later became his law-firm partners, and he worked in mergers and acquisitions while also writing articles for the tax section of the newspaper Dünya. While on summer leave in Bodrum he met Cüneyt Sayıl and İlker Bilgi, who went on to become his acting managers, and this meeting led him toward a career on screen.

Career

Yaman began acting in 2014 in the television series Gönül İşleri. He followed it with İnadına Aşk in 2015 and Hangimiz Sevmedik in 2016. His wider breakthrough came in 2017 with the series Dolunay.

From 2018 to 2019 he played the male lead in the romantic comedy series Erkenci Kuş, which became one of his best-known roles. In 2020 he starred in the short series Bay Yanlış, produced by Gold Film and directed by Deniz Yorulmazer, which premiered on FOX in June of that year. In the same year he became the face of the Turkish clothing brand TUDORS.

In December 2020 he agreed to work with the Italian production company Lux Vide on the series Sandokan. His work in Italy continued in March 2021, when he made a guest appearance as Gino in the series Che Dio ci aiuti. He then played Francesco Demir in Viola come il mare, a series that appears among his credits for 2022.

In the winter of 2022 he filmed the international series El Turco, alongside Greta Ferro, William Kempe, Slavko Sobin and other European actors. The series was first made with Disney Plus in mind, but the production company Ay Yapım later bought the rights back, and the series was expected to reach a streaming platform in 2025.

Yaman declined the role of Asaf in The Ignorant Angels in order to take part in Sandokan; the part went to Burak Deniz instead. He played the title character in Sandokan, which began airing in December 2025. After the series premiered, he co-hosted the first night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2026.

In June 2024 Yaman deleted his Instagram account, which then had about 12 million followers, saying that he wanted to concentrate on acting without the interruptions of social media. He opened a new account in March 2025.

Recognition

In 2018 Yaman received a Golden Butterfly Award for Best Actor in a Romantic Comedy for his role in Erkenci Kuş. The following year he was also honoured with the Murex d'Or for the same series. In 2020 he received an international nomination at the PRODU awards in Latin America, in the category of best actor in a foreign series, for Bay Yanlış, and in 2021 he was nominated again for Best Actor in a Romantic Comedy at the Golden Butterfly Awards for the same series. He was named the 7th GQ Man of the Year in 2019, and has received several international awards for his charitable initiatives.