Ali Atay

Ali Atay — Biography

Born Dursun Ali Atay on 20 April 1976 in Rize, he is of Laz descent. After graduating from the theatre department of the Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory in 1999, he co-founded the Krek theatre company in Istanbul that same year together with Berkun Oya; before that he had sung as vocalist for a group called Knight Errant from 1993 to 1996. He became widely known for playing Mecnun Çınar in the TRT 1 series Leyla ile Mecnun, which ran for three seasons, and later fronted Leyla the Band alongside castmates from the show. His film credits include Vay Arkadaş, Sen Aydınlatırsın Geceyi, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Ayla, Turkey's submission for the Academy Awards; he also played Commissioner Yusuf in Masum, BluTV's first original web series. He turned to directing in 2014 with Limonata, going on to write and direct Ölümlü Dünya, Cinayet Süsü, Ölümlü Dünya 2 and Sekizinci Aile. Along the way his work has earned him the Ayhan Işık Special Award for Sen Aydınlatırsın Geceyi and a Sadri Alışık award for his role in İyi Seneler Londra. He was married to Ebru Cansız from 2008 to 2013; in 2019 he married actress Hazal Kaya, with whom he has two children, Fikret Ali and Leyla Süreyya.