Basic Instinct

This article is published in number 14 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until April 6, 2021

The concierge of the Hotel Eden in Rome, the legendary place of the Roman Dolce Vita, had not seen these scenes for some time: girls, girls and women of all ages stretched towards Can Yaman who, pirate and gentleman, combining the classical and statuary canons of a Greek God with the wilder and more adventurous ones of Sandokan, smiles that open chasms and at the same time solve them. They call it a “phenomenon” for the numbers it moves (over eight million followers on Instagram, passionate, attentive, devoted fan pages), for the indecent thoughts it arouses, for the object of desire and the model of values ​​that suddenly became a dedicated and varied feminine: the grandmother who would like him as a granddaughter, the high school student who dreams of him as a husband, the mother who imagines him alongside her daughter. But his love is (almost) all for Diletta Leotta, in spite of the rumors of a true, almost military presence in his existence, which calls him when he is on the set of this service for comparison, I recommend. It is a coming and going of messages and lighting up in the face from nowhere, when visualizing them. “I can’t give you the key to a place you don’t have to enter. It is more right to stop a moment earlier, on the threshold, and watch what happens ». So let’s rewind the tape.

Birth certificate.

“It happens in Sadiye Kadıköy, in the province of Istanbul. I was full of hair. My father looks at my mom and says: “Let’s take him to the hairdresser right away”. I come into the world and remain there as an only child, which – having no terms of comparison – – I can say I’m not sorry. It means having the attention around all to yourself, not sharing it with anyone. I will flourish over time. Because at the beginning, honestly, I was very ugly ».

What childhood do you feel you have had, going back?

“Spent playing football, in the summer by the sea, in the bays of Bodrum, in the winter breaking the knick-knacks at home. My parents divorced early when I was five. I don’t remember them ever married, but united for me, yes. There were three of us on vacation. Never felt the lack of their attention ».

What types are they?

“Mom very disciplined, organized, German, a sort of soldier, a tight marker: it is thanks to her that I was a good student, she gave me the rules, she still manages my travels and my assets, if she weren’t there I would be finished. He, the opposite: customs officer, street instinct, the end of duties in the fun and complicity between males ».

Outside the family, what meeting changed you?

«A particular, special friend, I met at the Italian high school just when my father’s job started going badly and I risked having to interrupt my studies. It was the darkest period, we didn’t even have the money for the fees, so much so that we ended up paying for it by luck, thanks to a successful sports bet ».

And what did he win her for?

“He was a little genius: he was always alone, he didn’t talk to anyone. Except me. It gave me the desire to become good, and thus gave me the opportunity to continue school by obtaining scholarships. With him I loved reading, getting lost in the stories of philosophers, challenging us at chess, listening to the lessons again. He used to tell me: “To get close to God, you have to be wise, to know as much as possible. It is wisdom that brings you closer to him ”. When he then returned to his home, in Albania, and I was left alone, I always felt I had to continue to prove my worth, as if he were still looking at me, from afar. I haven’t seen him since. ‘

How did you become an actor then?

«Thanks to an international call for proposals, I am back among the 36 best students in Turkey sent to live in the United States. I win over the 3,000 who participate, and it happens to me in Ohio, where I move and support myself with sport. There I developed the idea of ​​wanting to study law. I tell myself: the lawyer is a respected profession, well paid. I am 24 years old and I join PricewaterhouseCoopers, every Friday a business article of mine comes out in a very prestigious newspaper, my career flies, but I soon understand, however, that it is crazy to be at the computer from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening. So to diversify I sign up for an acting course for the use of the body and voice in business. I meet those who are still my two agents today. And from there everything changes. From the first series, I have never stopped ».

Do you always like this profession of yours?

“Except in the morning: I am ill-disposed, silent, grumpy and irritable before a certain time, and I return joyfully in the afternoon, from sunset onwards. A real animal of the night. It is no coincidence that I suffer from a bit of insomnia ».

Since 2014 he has been shooting a TV series a year. There is the success of DayDreamer – The wings of the dream, and now Sandokan: a gigantic project by Lux Vide, which will start shooting in the summer.

“Training, horseback riding, martial arts. I am preparing hard. I am in a strong evolution. Now I ride, I use the sword, I train, we are almost there. Kabir Bedi’s legacy is not easy, I hope to be worthy, I’m really doing my best ».

How does this pure hero resemble you?

«In the values ​​we have or lack and seek: love, friendship, patriotism, revenge. Women will like it too ».

How many are besieging it?

«They are difficult accounts. Over 80 percent of my fans are women. There are some obsessive ones, that when you take their cell phone to take the selfie you realize that they have printed me all over the place. On the bag, on the shirt, on the hat, on the phone cover. If everyone wants me differently, they all shower me with gifts. Did they find out that I’m crazy about dark chocolate? A wagon. Post a photo that has a certain trinket in the background? My home of all shapes, colors and sizes invade me. From Argentina to India, from Israel to Australia ».

And how does she react?

“Like a gentleman. Trying to never get the messages wrong. Positive, respectful, affectionate. Trying never to break hearts. Once in Spain I was even called by the daughters of an 80-year-old lady in love with me to persuade her to seek treatment ».

Does it ever break down?

«When I meet arrogance: it irritates me, it makes me impetuous. Just like a volcano. I prefer compliments to criticism ».

What do you do with the letters you receive?

“I read the ones I can, and I keep them all. For safety, my mother keeps them, who is setting up a kind of museum. My fans are mostly poetic, going through their lines I feel that they really love me ».

Tell us about your love.

«You know him, because everything is under the eyes of all, in the light of the sun. A loyal love, in which I take my responsibilities, as we have seen. I have great respect for her, for our relationship and confidentiality is our first promise: we communicate what concerns us, together ».

Will this wedding everyone’s talking about be there?

“If there is, those same people will all see it. Let’s keep the surprise on something ».

Why her?

«To speak, even of this, would be tantamount to taking away magic. I am one who acts without taking too long, without mincing words. I follow the push, fast. What will happen will be known, in all its beauty ».

What is beauty?

“It can be a dark thing that overshadows everything, but also that illuminates and excites, a bit like the Bosphorus at night. Of course it is not only an aesthetic but a total title that stands above and holds the eyes, the brain and the other beating organs together. It is a mechanism that is not mistaken: if your eyes are empty, you also become all empty ».

And the fear?

«When you love you don’t get scared. If you live in the present, you don’t have time for fear. And you don’t put yourself in a condition of fear with your future, with conditionals, possibilities, fantasies. What sense would that make? Really nobody ».

And the madness?

«The path that every time I took it was the right path. Instinct is in the name of God ».

Believe?

“Providence and I talk to each other, we have a good relationship, and that’s the reason I never get sad. But never really. If one thing does not come true, it means that it is only making way for another more intense ».

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