Cagatay Ulusoy

Cagatay Ulusoy was born on September 23, 1990, in Istanbul-Bakirköy, Turkey. He grew up in the Küçükçekmece district of Istanbul. His mother is of Bosnian descent, and his father is of Turkish descent who immigrated from Bulgaria. Ulusoy has a younger brother named Atalay. After graduating from Halkali Trade Vocational High School, he initially studied Garden Design and Landscaping at Istanbul University. At the age of 19, he began a modeling career, which included swimming, various sports, and drawing. He played basketball for seven years with aspirations of becoming a coach and developed skills in playing the guitar, piano, and drums. In 2010, Ulusoy participated as a dancer in the series ‘Recep Ivedik 3’ and appeared in the short film ‘Paranoia.’

Ulusoy’s acting career commenced after winning the Best Model of Turkey competition on October 15, 2010. Immediately following this win, he was offered a lead role in the series ‘Adini Feriha Koydum’ (2011-2012) as Emir Sarrafoglu, alongside Hazal Kaya. He pursued acting lessons with Ayla Algan prior to the competition and continued training with Vahide Perçin and Altan Gördum at Art School Academy 35 and a half during the series. Between the first and second seasons of ‘Feriha,’ Ulusoy made his film debut in ‘Anadolu Kartallari’ (2011) as Lieutenant Ahmet Onur. His career progressed with notable roles in ‘Medcezir’ (2013-2015), a remake of ‘The O.C.,’ where he played Yaman Koper. In 2015, he starred in the film ‘Delibal,’ portraying Baris Ayaz, a student with bipolar disorder, for which he learned to play the drums. The film’s song ‘Mutlu Sonsuz,’ performed vocally by Ulusoy, topped Turkish charts.

In 2016, Ulusoy directed a short film titled ‘Home’ about homeless individuals while in Los Angeles. He continued his acting career with the series ‘Içerde’ (2016-2017), playing Sarp Yilmaz, a police officer infiltrating the mafia. He took acting and linguistics lessons with coach Lori Lively to enhance his English pronunciation. A significant turning point was his role as Hakan Demir and Harun Akinci in ‘The Protector’ (2018-2020), the first original Turkish Netflix series. This role brought him international recognition, including the ‘Man of the Year GQ 2019’ award in the Middle East. His career further diversified with roles in ‘Paper Lives’ (2021), where he also served as Creative Producer, and ‘Yesilçam’ (2021) for Blu TV. In 2018, he signed with the United Talent Agency in Los Angeles, indicating a focus on international opportunities. Recent projects include ‘The Tailor’ (2023), ‘Kübra’ (2024), and ‘Gaddar’ (2024), all of which have achieved commercial success. Ulusoy has also supported charitable foundations, such as the Losev Foundation for children with leukemia.