In this exclusive interview with CEETV, Özcan Deniz, the star of the new Turkish hit Red Roses, talks about the controversial topics which the drama series touches upon. As he clarifies, it was exactly this factor that convinced him to take on a starring role in this project, which he also believes will turn into a major international success.

Red Roses is produced by Gold Film and distributed internationally by Global Agency. The series airs on Fox Turkey on Monday nights.


Özcan, Red Roses is described as one of the most ambitious series of the new season, airing on Fox in Turkey. Which are the main challenges for you in this new series?

I had promised myself and said that I'm never going to be in a series that's going to be on the major channels, the Free TV channels in Turkey. That was a promise to myself. The reason I changed my mind was the script. When I read the script and the story, I was amazed by it. And I thought that this is the type of story that I should definitely be in. I think it reflects, first of all, the Turkish socioeconomic situation very, very well and also the society in Turkey. So, it's going to give a lot of those kind of messages. But I also believe that this story has a huge, huge reach in all international markets. And that all the components, the cast - normally you're not able to get these actors together. But I guess everyone felt that this is a great story. The director and of course the producer, Gold Film, and this is the third I am working together with Gold Film. So, all in all, I have to say that the story convinced me and all the components surrounding it, and this feeling that this is going to have an international reach is what convinced me.


Beyond just the traditional plot, what are some of the deeper themes that the series explores throughout its stories?

There is a huge polarization in Turkey right now between different groups. It has always been the problem with economic positions of different groups, but it's just growing and growing. So it is in the world, but maybe more in Turkey. The rich people are extremely rich and the poor are just getting poorer. So, what we see in the story, and also what's good to mention, is that we're going to see a more modern and secularized part of Turkey, and then we have the more traditional and maybe more religious. We all live in this country together, but we are all quite different, and when we meet we have some clashes. There are some obstacles, but it's always easy to go through to. The story involves two children, and it's thru these children that we see both sides of the story. We have one child that represents the modern, the secularized part, and then we have one child that's trying to represent the more traditional and the more religious. This is something that will reflect all over the world, whatever country we're talking about, and people will find something and identify with something in the story.


What I am expecting is that the audience, meaning the Turkish people, are going to see more clearly that this is what's going on in that group and in this group. Also, I want to emphasize something you mentioned in the beginning: the idea of the show is not at all to divide these groups or make any divisions. On the contrary, it's a story that shows and really underlines the fact that we actually live a good life together. We're happy together.


Was your character a challenge in any way for you acting-wise, and what specifically attracted you to this project?

I am playing a psychiatrist, and that's a huge challenge because psychiatrists usually have a different body language and it's more complicated. So, it's not easy to just read a text and act as a psychiatrist. I really need to focus and live up to it at the same time. There is going to be a lot of expressions in the story that is put on the actors, and they can easily be misinterpreted by the audience. That's a huge pressure on the actor. So, that's something that I find that they have to be very, very careful about because it's very easy to attack, that's the main challenge.

The reason why I am really calm right now when I amtalking to you is because I am preparing myself for my role. Basically whoever talks to me right now, I am talking to them as if they were my patients. I have started training for the role (laughing).


Can you tell us a little more about the other actors in the series? We know that you partner with Ozgu Namal, who returned to TV after nine years.

Ozgu Namal is a great actress. She took a step back from acting and she was away for nine years. What's interesting now is that she's back in this role, and she's actually, as a spirit, very close to the role that she's going to be in right now. They have not been in any movie or series and played together in the past, but I am very happy and excited about it. Also, it's huge to convince someone that's been away nine years from acting to actually come into this project, which also tells a lot about the strength of the story.


Are you working on other series as well?

After the Covid break for two years I went back to music, and then I started with a new movie project, but then Gold Film came in and I just had to put it aside a bit.