Can Yaman, basic instinct | Vanity Fair Italy
This interview with Can Yaman was published in Vanity Fair issue 14 on June 30, 2021, and we’re reposting it today to retrace the changes Vanity has seen in the last 20. Here are all the articles we’re republishing .
The concierge of the Hotel Eden in Rome, legendary place of the Roman Dolce Vita, had not seen these scenes for a long time: girls and women of all ages tend to Can Yaman who, pirate and knight, combining the classical canons and statue of ‘a Greek god to the wildest and most adventurous of Sandokan, smiles a smile that opens chasms and at the same time resolves them. They call it a “phenomenon” for the numbers it generates (more than eight million followers on Instagram, passionate, attentive, devoted fans), for the indecent thoughts it arouses, for the object of desire and the model of values it has. she has suddenly become a devoted and varied woman: the grandmother who would like him as a grandson, the high school student who dreams of him as a husband, the mother who imagines him next to her daughter. But his love is (almost) all for Diletta Leotta, despite the rumors of a real, almost military presence in his existence, who calls him when he is on the set of this service for comparison, advice. It’s a back and forth of messages and they light up in your face out of nowhere when you see them. “I can’t give you the key to a place you shouldn’t enter. It’s better to stop a moment before, at the threshold, and see what happens.” So let’s rewind the tape.
Birth certificate
“It happens in Sadiye Kadıköy, in the province of Istanbul. It was full of hair. My father looks at my mother and says: “Let’s take him to the hairdresser immediately”. I come into the world and stay there as an only child, which – having no terms of comparison – I can say that I don’t care. It means having all the attention for yourself, not sharing it with anyone. I will blossom with time. Because at the beginning, honestly, it was very ugly.”
What kind of childhood do you think you have when you come back?
“He spent his time playing football, in the summer by the sea, in the bays of Bodrum, in the winter breaking ornaments at home. My parents divorced early, when I was five years old. I don’t remember them ever getting married, but united by me, yes. We went on vacation. I have never felt his lack of attention.”
What types are they?
“Very disciplined, organized, German mother, a kind of soldier, a strict scorer: thanks to her I was a good student, she gave me the rules, she still manages my movements and my assets, if she wasn’t there. i would have finished He, the complete opposite: customs officer, street instinct, end of duties in fun and complicity between men”.
Outside of your family, what encounter changed you?
“A particular friend, special, met at the Italian high school just when my father’s work started to go badly and I risked having to interrupt my studies. It was the darkest period, we didn’t even have the money for the fees, so much so that we ended up paying one by luck, thanks to a sports bet we won.”
And why did he conquer it?
“He was a genius: he was always alone, he didn’t talk to anyone. except me It made me want to be good, and thus gave me the opportunity to continue school by getting scholarships. With him I loved to read, lose myself in the stories of the philosophers, challenge myself to chess, listen to the lessons again. He told me: “To get closer to God, you need to be wise, know as much as possible. It is wisdom that brings you closer to him.” Then when he returned to his home in Albania and I was left alone, I always felt that I had to continue to prove my worth to him, as if he was still watching me , from afar. I never saw him again.”
How did you become an actor then?
“Thanks to an international call, I am among the top 36 students from Turkey sent to live in the United States. I win from the 3,000 who participate and I get to Ohio, where I move and support myself with the sport. There I developed the idea of wanting to study law. I tell myself: being a lawyer is a respected and well-paid profession. I am 24 years old and I join Pricewaterhouse Coopers, every Friday one of my business articles comes out in a very prestigious newspaper, my career is flying, but I soon understand that it is crazy to be on the computer from 8 in the morning to 8 in the morning. in the afternoon . So to diversify I enrolled in an acting course for the use of body and voice in business. I meet with those who are still my two agents today. And from here everything changes. Since the first series, I haven’t stopped.”
However, do you always like this job of yours?
“Except in the morning: I am ill-tempered, silent, moody and irritable before a certain hour, and I am cheerful again in the afternoon, from sunset. A true animal of the night. It’s no coincidence that I suffer from a bit of insomnia.”
Since 2014, he has filmed one television series per year. There is the success of DayDreamer, and now Sandokan – a gigantic project from Lux Vide, the shooting of which will begin in the summer.
“Training, horse riding, martial arts. I am preparing a lot. I am in a strong evolution. Now I ride, I use the sword, I train, we’re almost there. Kabir Bedi’s legacy is not easy, I hope it’s worth it, I’m trying hard.”
How is this pure hero like you?
“In the values we have or lack and seek: love, friendship, patriotism, revenge. Women will like it too.”
How many harass him?
“These are difficult accounts. More than 80 percent of my fans are women. There are those who are a bit obsessive, that when you take their mobile phone to take a selfie you realize that they have me printed all over them. In your bag, on your shirt, on your cap, in your phone case. If everyone wants me in a different way, they all shower me with gifts. Have they found out I’m crazy about dark chocolate? With the truck Post a photo with a piece of jewelry in the background? They invade my house in all shapes, colors and sizes. From Argentina to India, from Israel to Australia.”
And how does she react?
“Like a gentleman. Try to never get messages wrong. Positive, respectful, affectionate. Never trying to break hearts. Once in Spain, I even had the daughters of an 80-year-old lady who was in love with me call me to convince her to seek treatment.”
Does it ever break?
“When I encounter arrogance: it irritates me, it makes me impetuous. Just like a volcano. I prefer compliments to criticism.”
What do you do with the letters you receive?
“I read the ones I can, and I keep them all. For safety, my mother keeps them, as she is building a museum of sorts. My fans are mostly poetic, going through their lines I feel like they really love me.”
Tell us about your love.
“You know, because it’s all there for everyone to see, in broad daylight. A loyal love, in which I assume my responsibilities, as we have seen. I have great respect for her, because our relationship and confidentiality is our first promise: we communicate what concerns us, together.”
