İlker Kaleli

İlker Kaleli — Biography

İlker Kaan Kaleli is a Turkish television and film actor born in Istanbul; his date of birth is given variously as 5 March 1983 and 11 May 1984. He spent his teenage years immersed in music, playing guitar and performing concerts with a band of friends, and improved his English by working out the lyrics of Nirvana songs. His first time in front of a camera came at 16, in a commercial. He graduated in arts management from İstanbul Kültür University and worked as a DJ for a while.

Seeking professional training, he went to London and was the only one of 25 Turkish applicants accepted at LAMDA; during this period he also took classes with Şahika Tekand's Stüdyo Oyuncuları. Although he had said he had no plans to work in Turkish series, offers he could not refuse followed: in 2012 he played Alper in Son on atv, then drew attention as İrfan, sharing the lead with Gökçe Bahadır, in Kanal D's Kayıp Şehir. The series Kayıp and the 2014 film Silsile came next.

His best-known role is the title character of Poyraz Karayel, broadcast from 2015 to 2017, in which he starred opposite Burçin Terzioğlu. In 2020 he led Öğretmen as Akif, and in 2024 he appeared in the series The Turkish Passion. He speaks English well and is said to know several languages.