From Nurgül Yeşilçay to Erkan Petekkaya
"You can’t prove your masculinity through my femininity!"
Ayşe Arman's Interview with Nurgül Yeşilçay 2016 - click for the original interview
The topic...
"The truth is so bad... If I talk, it would be talked about everywhere!"
That's what Erkan Petekkaya said about Nurgül Yeşilçay, with whom he shared the lead role in the TV series "Paramparça", which was broadcast on Star TV for two years. I wonder what Nurgül did? In fact, what it's so bad, that would be talked about everywhere? She must have committed a crime, she must have a flaw. Or she had before. When Nurgül said that two lovers should kiss, as it was written in the script during the series, Petekkaya said, "You are especially interested in those kisses! You are used to such things", he said. He refused to record the kisses. One of the reasons was allegedly that the conservative audience in Anatolia would be uncomfortable watching such scenes... So say the rumors! Nurgül is a single mother with an 11-year-old child. /the article is from 2016/
She could no longer remain silent against Erkan Petekkaya's allegations, she said: "I'm not an easy bite", and told everything...
She could no longer remain silent against Erkan Petekkaya's allegations, she said: "I'm not an easy bite", and told everything...
What is that story about Erkan Petekkaya and the Paramparça series?
First of all, I want to say this. I'm not someone who likes to talk about something that is ended. And I didn't even talk about it. It was a joint decision, the 52nd episode ended and our paths continued in different directions. But on the other hand, he kept talking about it, after all he said: "If I were to say what the real reasons are, Nurgül shouldn’t go out on the street!", he muttered stuff like that. And of course I didn't like it at all! It sounded like I had committed some shameful crime. If that's the case, if we're pouring the stones on our skirt, let's pour it right then...
Erkan Petekkaya didn't want to film the kiss scenes even though it was written in the script. We could read that in the press. He reportedly said:
"There are conservative viewers in my Anatolia"... What is the real truth?
I would tell everything from the beginning. Last year, he started talking like this: "I'll not play a couple in love with you!". This year, his statement was fully revealed. I said: "Why? After all, I played both a lesbian and a prostitute... I can act everything. We are actors, how can we do otherwise? How can we say we don't want to act something?" He replied: "You understand why".
How so?
I didn't realize it then either. Afterwards, I realized the meaning of what he said.
How come, does that mean: "To play a couple in love, we have to be lovers?"
We don't know... And how would we assess that. And that continued. But that man was constantly experiencing some discomfort,
he was constantly saying "I'll not play a couple in love with you!". I was worried about something else.
he was constantly saying "I'll not play a couple in love with you!". I was worried about something else.
What was it?
I'm a very real person, I want things to happen as real. "We will look each other in the eyes, as if we are in love. So what, there is no need to exaggerate. After all, we are shooting a series, we are not doing some high art or anything, we are making money. Filming this series feeds a hundred people. But we need to do our job well. We have to do it right!" That's what I worried about. In fact, as a viewer of the series, I would say: "For these two characters to be realistic, it has to be something more than holding hands. They also have to kiss, because two people in love are definitely kissing..."
Were there such scenes in the script?
Of course! But the main actor didn't want to act that, and that's why there were no kisses! And on top of that he told me something like: "Ooo! How you are especially interested in kisses! You're used to things like that." These are really ugly and "raw" remarks.
But the company could have intervened, wasn't there a director who would say:
"We have to respect the script!"?
There were directors, but there was no person who was "capable of directing"! We had one of the best directors in the sector, he couldn't stand what was going on, he left in June last year. Then came a young man, instead of being a director, he was directed by the main actor. That's how it really was. Whatever Erkan Petekkaya said, the director would just laugh, he would accept it, he would agree with him.
Do you think the conservatism of viewers in Anatolia
is really the real reason for his refusing kisses?
Of course not, he made it up later! In his earlier serials, he played a character who raped his ex-wife, and later a character who killed
a man, beat children... They said nothing about such scenes, and they would talk about kisses? Maybe it's about:
"One man can do such things, but he will never kiss a loved one!", maybe he wanted to say that. I don't know. I still can't figure it out.
a man, beat children... They said nothing about such scenes, and they would talk about kisses? Maybe it's about:
"One man can do such things, but he will never kiss a loved one!", maybe he wanted to say that. I don't know. I still can't figure it out.
I still can't figure it out. You play a lover, besides you are a man,
what is the problem with kissing?
I'll tell you, he wanted to hurt me that way. He wanted to underestimate me, humiliate me. But well, you won't prove your own masculinity through my femininity! I'll not allow it! You won't be able to... What a way to slander someone!
Is it that viewers in this society really don't want to watch kissing scenes
for reasons of conservatism?
No, what are you talking about! Read the comments on social networks, on Twitter. Everyone says: "Enough is enough!
Move on to something more than holding hands." That was no longer convincing.
People have stopped believing in this love, it didn't seem plausible to them.
Move on to something more than holding hands." That was no longer convincing.
People have stopped believing in this love, it didn't seem plausible to them.
Can the script change according to the own discretion of the main actor?
I don't think we can! We were making a love series. They put up posters with the two of us looking into each other's eyes.
This is a kind of promise to the audience. If that is what we promised, we must not deceive them. But in this country, a man has the right to do whatever he wants. And he thinks that everything he does is right. That's what it's all about! We are witnesses of that, we have experienced very difficult things. And then he shamelessly said: "If I tell the truth, I'll turn everything upside down." He can say something like that. He can say something like that. Man, I have a beautiful 11-year-old son. What right do you have to say such things? Won't my son ask me later: "Mom, what did you do?" What have I done? What kind of slander is this? And someone even put those gossips as a title. And of course I got upset about it. I'm not a person who works on the principle of "shoot in the head, bite where it hurts". But also I'm not someone who can suffer injustice.
This is a kind of promise to the audience. If that is what we promised, we must not deceive them. But in this country, a man has the right to do whatever he wants. And he thinks that everything he does is right. That's what it's all about! We are witnesses of that, we have experienced very difficult things. And then he shamelessly said: "If I tell the truth, I'll turn everything upside down." He can say something like that. He can say something like that. Man, I have a beautiful 11-year-old son. What right do you have to say such things? Won't my son ask me later: "Mom, what did you do?" What have I done? What kind of slander is this? And someone even put those gossips as a title. And of course I got upset about it. I'm not a person who works on the principle of "shoot in the head, bite where it hurts". But also I'm not someone who can suffer injustice.
As far as I understood, there was not a bit of chemistry
between the two of you, in modern terms.
This is not about chemistry, we are doing one particular job! We make money. Let's do the job right. We don't have to love each other. But we must respect each other. If it's a man, everything is allowed to him. A young girl made a small mistake on the set, an avalanche of insults immediately ensues. He expressed indescribable insults on the set, he shouted, screams and the so-called director laughed at that. Who are you?
You're actually talking about something we all know, and that is that this is a world of men.
Yes, the general atmosphere in our country is transferred to the sets. Those bullies, intruders, oppressors, those guys who have a sense of superiority, those of high ego are well known to all of us, aren't they? In another series, an actor beat his girlfriend to death. And he continues to work. The producers say something along the lines of: " "How do we know that woman is not lying? Maybe she said that because she wants to become famous!" Is something like this permissible? Well, in this country it is. What shamelessness! But there comes a time when you rebel. When you say: "Who are you?", "Who did you think you were?", I'm currently in that state of rebellion.
Have you experienced something like this before?
No, never! I worked with Atıf Yılmaz, Fatih Akın... With Türkan Şoray, Şener Şen, Özcan Deniz... I have never experienced anything unpleasant so far. I arrived on time for the shoot. Always with learned lines. I do my part of the role and go home. And I don't know any other way but that. When I go to filming, I'm not used to waiting for eight hours. But in this series it was like that. The man couldn't appear on the set. Because of him, I started sewing tapestries. Because otherwise time doesn’t pass. You wait and wait...
He wants the woman to really admire him...
That's the thing!
Does that really mean he has to be thrilled, to be kissing you for the role?
Let's look at things from this angle as well.
No. Because he knows that the person on the other side does it only because of the role, not because really want to kiss him.
How so?
He thinks like this: A woman must really want that, to kiss him even if is only because of the role. That's what it's about! He wants the woman to really admire him. I see it this way: "Filming this series feeds 100 people, let's do our job and to go!". Kissing gives credibility to the characters, this will positively affect the rating. That was what was important to me. It seems that his heart couldn't stand all this. A man who constantly says "Me, me, me" because in that way he wants to constantly to feed his ego.
How difficult is it to be a woman in this business?
It's just as difficult to be a woman in this business as it is to be a woman in other sectors in this society. Being Aunt Ayşe, sister Fatma, being Nurgül Yeşilçay, that's how it is. Such an order is established in society, that is the order.
WHEN THE RATING DECREASED,
IT HAD TO BEGIN BLACKENING, SLANDERING
Are you talking about a very strong ego?
Very much! Of course, when the rating dropped, he couldn't accept that. It was necessary to blacken someone. I'm not a person who works on the principle of "shoot in the head, bite where it hurts". I haven't and will never be. I'm just saying all this for myself, there are a lot of women who are exposed to something like this in this business. Unfortunately, everyone is in favor of "male solidarity". After everything they do, someone will tell them "You will apologize!". The production company must have put pressure on him to apologize. Of course, I didn't want that. Why would I want?
When did it happen?
That happened in the end. I'm an actress who does her job well. There is no award for acting in Turkey that I didn't receive. But here, you are a woman, he (the man) is the first to be saved from the fire, and you are the first to be burns in the fire! I haven't left any series, but I couldn't stand the male order there. I thought, if I experience this, who knows what all other women experience.
See what he's talking about?
"I pulled this out of the trash!"
Are you cursing?
Never! Look, I don't drink alcohol on set. To be clear, I say that categorically! And on the set, I never deal with intrigue and slander of others. But if someone slanders me... I'll fight back! Because I also have a threshold of tolerance. We were in Yedigöller Park. I was in the room. I said to myself: "Calm down, it's the last scene!" Hold on... " They called me downstairs, I came down. He was sitting there, so full of himself. That so-called director was next to us. He said: "I pulled this out of the trash!" Can you believe it? A team of 300 people and that so-called director were there next to us, and he said that about me. And who wouldn't be angry? I said to myself, "I'm going to slap this guy's face so well," but I held back and said nothing. I took a deep breath. Oh, I looked, he held the script in his hand and threw out all the romantic lines. "Ah, I can't do that. I can't say that." I said: "This should be a very romantic scene?" He said again: "You really like those things!"
And what happened?
I thought to myself: "If we can say everything we want to say as if in a script, then so will I!" We are rehearsing our scene. And he starts reading, says: "Gülseren, how are you?" And I answer: "I'm fine, mother fucker!" Yes, I did it! He infuriated me so much that I told him that! Then I moved the microphone, I said: "I can't record this scene!", and left.
Was that all?
Yes... Maybe that's why he said: "If I talk, it would be talked about everywhere!" In my opinion, that means that he threatened me. I'll not succumb to these threats from him. I'm much braver. Here, I said everything I had. Because I can no longer stand what this type of man is forcing us to swallow, and I believe that everything they do must be brought to light, to be eliminated from the work.
It was mobbing!
So you think, what Petekkaya said
"And you're really interested in scenes like that!" is mobbing?
Yes, is mobbing. God is my witness! I was under psychological pressure. Everyone knew about it but no one said anything. I think that is what the problem in Turkey is. Everyone knows everything, but since it is a male world, then "If you are a man, whatever you do, you are always right."
Where does he get the right to do this?
He is Erkan Petekkaya. Others will say: "Everything he says or does is good!"
Wasn't there a producer’s there?
There was. When I experienced what I experienced, I went to them and said: "I want to go. Here I am in such a "male-minded" environment. That man sets the conditions and everything must be the way he wants."
What did they tell you?
They listened to me and said: "If you say what's going on on the set, we have friends in the media. It won't be good for you at all." They would destroy me! I laughed: "Why do I have to talk about things on the set? When my marriage ended, I didn't talk about it. If I said I wouldn't do something, then I won't." But if a person talks about me on all sides, then the situation changes, and that's exactly what happened.
You were leave, it was all over, why do you think he said these things?
The rating of the series dropped to 5 because I left the series. However, the episode where I died had a rating of 9.5. I want only one thing to be known, I don't fall for those remarks like "You're really interested in those kisses!". Nobody, nobody has the right to say something like that. I'm a woman living alone /then/, and they thought I wouldn't raise my voice. How dare they! I suffered mobbing for months, I couldn't stand it. I told everyone everything I had, and then I got up and left. You can't prove your masculinity through my femininity, I won't let you do that!
Could jealousy have been at the root of it all?
Ayşe, dear, no way. This is all about the male ego! In this country, in every field, in every business, we experience it.
That's why I wanted to shoot with a woman director, we would do our job calmly.
That's why I wanted to shoot with a woman director, we would do our job calmly.
When he said that "If I say what the real reason is, it will be talked about on all sides!",
you didn't call him on the phone to ask him "Erkan, what is this?"
We didn't have such a conversation. I called the production, they didn't answer the phone. I don't want to go into anyone's private life, but you see how he accuses me of being of low morals. So many things were written in the newspapers about his life. And then such a man tries to "sell" me a picture of an exemplary father of the family! Come on, please!