First Official German Erdoğan Atalay-Fanpage - ©
Barbara Fuckner (Barbarella) 2002-2008
www.erdogan-atalay-fanpage.de
Interview in
2004 
Published in
"Luebecker Nachrichten" on 29-03-2004
© Text with the author, see below
(tsch) Erdoğan Atalay appears quiet and modest.
He speaks in a low voice and adds an self-conscious laugh now and then.
"It's nothing unusual to hang from a helicopter", he says, almost
apologetic. The 37 year-old thinks it is "perfectly normal" to do
most of his own stunts in the action series "Alarm for Cobra 11".
"One time I was really scared - when I was supposed to fall backwards from
the Cologne Fair Tower. I was secured, of course, but it was quite a
thing." For nine years already he has been playing the Turkish police
officer Semir. "Time is running incredibly fast." Incidentally his
acting career began by chance. "I went to a theatre play with a friend in
Hanover. It looked so easy and I simply asked if I could join. I got a part as
an extra - I was the ghost in "Aladin and the magic lamp". He
obviously did this really well. "Later the director asked me, if I would
like to play a leading part."
Eventually one thing led to another until he had an
audition at a casting agency in Berlin for a tv role as a vegetable merchant.
"I wasn't allowed to play that part, but instead got booked for
"Cobra 11". A stroke of luck, in hind sight. An average of 25 % of
the 14 to 49 year audience the advertisers aim for averagely watch the show
every week. "I think we are so successful because we continuously strive
for perfection. Also, we were the first action series in German television.
Even after such a long time he never gets bored.
"There are many guest-stars, who return again and again. That is like a
small happening. And it's nice that I have grown into a certain routine with
the years. That does not mean that I just do my job, but that I can focus on
the important things because I don't have to depend on certain circumstances
any more. I feel a bit like I'm at home in the show." No wonder that he
does not want to think about the end. "As long as the quality stays at its
current level, I'm on board."
The man from Berlin does not know what's in the future
for him. "I'll just wait and see what happens. I do think about my
daughter." … Since she was born "everything has changed". The
outlook on life, for example. "The other day we were at the zoo and I
wanted to show her a giraffe. But she found the leaf she was holding in her
hand much more fascinating. That proves that in life you don't just need
superlatives." To give her some connection to his Ottoman roots the son of
a German and a Turk tries to hold regular contact to Turkey. "That is not
so easy. I don't speak Turkish myself. My father used to think it was more
important for me to learn German."
This summer (2004) the actor and script writer
("I am working on several different projects that are all at an early
stage) will marry his girl-friend Astrid Ann-Marie Pollmann, who every now and
then has a guest spot on "Alarm for Cobra 11". "The wedding will
probably take place in August. We have to see when we can find enough
time." Time is short at the moment, as he is standing in front of the
camera again for the show. He also cannot visit his mare as often as he would
like at the moment. "She is stabled near Hanover. Her name is Babode and
she is already 28 years old." He never lost his love for animals.
"Initially I wanted to become a readier" he says and once again
laughs his shy, self-conscious laugh.
Hella Bunke
teleschau/tv-young 26-03-2004
Note: meanwhile the hyperlink to former
(German) publishing in the net is not longer available:
http://www.ln-online.de/news/archiv/?id=1366631&dbci=1&search=Erdogan%20atalay
|
Note: The publication of this interview does not mean to infringe on any
copyrights. That's for the translation, too. |
So many thanks to Ute Lafin for translation !!! J