Oktay Özdemir

Oktay Özdemir — Biography

Oktay Özdemir, whose full name is İnanç Oktay Özdemir, is an actor of Turkish heritage who works in German film and television. He was born in Berlin and holds both German and Turkish citizenship. He first appeared on screen in the mid-2000s in German films and in later years also appeared in television series.

His mother had emigrated from Turkey to Germany in the 1970s, at the age of twelve. Özdemir was spotted by casting scouts at a theatre and acrobatics club he attended after school, and that chance discovery led him into cinema. In his first film, King of Thieves, he played Marcel; he then appeared as Kamil in Jargo, Erol in Tough Enough and Akin in Straight. In Tough Enough he shared the cast with Detlev Buck, Hans Löw and Eva Löbau.

After this early stretch in cinema he turned to television too, with roles in the series SOKO Leipzig and Die Anwälte, and in 2020 he took part in Dr. Psycho - Die Bösen, die Bullen, meine Frau und ich.