Life of the Chief Eunuch from the TV series "Magnificent Age": Selim Bayraktar

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Turkish series won the hearts of many fans at one time. One of the brightest, albeit not the main characters, was Sumbül-aga, whose image was spelled out specifically for Selim Bayraktar. The image of the chief eunuch turned out to be very characteristic, and his appearance in each storyline gave the events a special emotionality and mystery. And all the more surprising is the fact that in life Selim Bayraktar is the complete opposite of his hero.

Iraq to Turkey

Selim Bayraktar was born in the city of Kirkuk (Iraq) in 1975, and the boy's parents had nothing to do with art. My father worked at a large oil refinery, my mother ran a household and was engaged in raising children.

And later the war broke out between Iraq and Iran, and Selim was under the threat of being drafted into the army, although at that time he had not yet graduated from school. Alarmed parents, after the story of their son, decided to flee the country in order to save their children (Selim has an older sister) from the horrors of war.

Simple belongings were urgently collected and at night the family set out on the road. They went to visit relatives in Turkey and soon, having overcome a difficult path, arrived in Eskisehir, which became their home for the next five years. Here the future actor graduated from high school, and then he entered the theater faculty of Hacettep University in Ankara, where the family moved.

After receiving his diploma in 2000, Selim Bayraktar began working at the State Theater, collaborated with many troupes, and toured different countries. In 2007 he moved from the Diyarbakir State Theater to the Antalya State Theater.

Cinema appeared in the life of Selim Bayraktar when the actor was already 30 years old. For the first time on the screens, Turkish viewers saw the actor in the TV series "The Bridge", released in 2006. Later, he starred in many films and TV series and believed that he could win the hearts of viewers not only in Turkey, but also abroad.

The actor starred a lot and constantly worked on himself, considering: dedication in the profession is a direct road to success. The excellent physical shape of an actor is not a tribute to fashion, but a firm conviction that only a well-trained person can withstand the physical and emotional stress that actors endure while working on a theatrical stage or set.

Not only work

And later there was the "Magnificent Age", which made Selim Bayraktar a real star. The actor confessed in one of his interviews: the role of Sumbul-aga was not easy for him. His character turned out to be neither a man nor a woman, but he had to be played emotionally and authentically.

The actor could perform a belly dance and convey female emotions, but in order to understand who the eunuchs in the Ottoman Empire really were, he began to read many history books and realized how bleak life was as a harem overseer. Eunuchs could not go out for years and often died of tuberculosis.

Selim Bayraktar trained for a very long time to walk like his hero. After all, after suffering a painful operation in childhood, Sumbül-aga could not walk freely and sweepingly. However, the actor had to not only walk in front of the mirror, but also convey the facial expressions of his character in order to look as feminine as possible in each frame, as the directors demanded.

The actor was so trustworthy in the form of a eunuch that Selim Bayraktar himself was accused of homosexuality. Selim only laughed loudly in response to journalists' questions about his romantic hobbies for men. At that time, Selim Bayraktar was married to Bikhter Bayraktar and often appeared at events with his wife, who is an excellent musician and works in the Turkish State Symphony Orchestra.

A little later in the life of the actor, there were changes. He leaves out of public attention the reasons for his separation from his wife, but now he appears more and more often in the society of the young actress Emel Karakoz. However, he is in no hurry to advertise his personal life and allows subscribers on social networks to think whatever they want. The main thing for him is creativity and the attitude towards it on the part of directors and producers.

In ordinary life, Selim Bayraktar is very different from his most famous hero Syumbulya-aga. He wears a brutal beard, keeps himself in good shape and does not at all look like the effeminate eunuch from The Magnificent Age.

The creative life of Selim Bayraktar is bright and eventful. He plays in the theater, acts in films and TV series, takes part in creative evenings with pleasure both in Turkey and abroad. Every year, two or three films or series with the participation of an actor are released. Among the latest works are the series "Rise of the Ottoman Empire", "Emerald Phoenix" and "The Robbery Game: Big Jackpot."

In ordinary life, Selim Bayraktar loves to skate, is fond of windsurfing and is seriously engaged in yoga. The actor dreams of filming in Hollywood and believes: his best films are yet to come.

Eunuchs were called male servants who looked after the harem. Such representatives of a strong half of humanity could be considered humiliated and deprived, however, this was not always true. Among them were famous personalities who had a tremendous influence not only on their ruler, but also on the fate of the entire state.