GQ Interview: Organize Isler 2

December 2018

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Kivanc Tatlitug

Soral recalls the day as  “one day I went to BKM Kitchen for breakfast, and I ran into Yilmaz Erdogan. It  had been years since I had seen him. When we started chatting, he told me about Organize Isler. Yilmaz Erdogan said, ‘I was already thinking about having you, now that I see you, I realized  again that we need to talk about this project.’ He sat me down with Berfin, he weighed us, and measured us to make sure we were a good match.

He did not even need to ask me if I would play in Organize Isler. I would do any part with great honor. Ezgi Mola, who was the rookie in the first sequel, gave a great performance in the role of the loyal and playful girlfriend, Asim. The first time I saw a movie set was Organize Isler. While she was talking about her experience in the first sequel, she also mentioned that she heard that Yilmaz Erdogan was filming the second sequel of Organize Isler, and sent him a voice message. ‘I heard that you are looking for a girlfriend for yourself, why don’t you consider me? I am capable of gaining weight, losing weight, changing my look, I can do whatever it takes to have this role.’

Yilmaz really likes genuine approaches, just like everybody would. Showing sincere interest in a project before it is offered to you, applauding the work before it’s complete means I really want to be part of this work.

I am never hesitant to show my interest if I hear of a project, in fact, I am happy that I can express my interest. An actor should be able to express their interest when they want to pursue a role without hesitating.”

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Kivanc Tatlitug & Riza Kocaoglu

When Riza Kocoglu decided to join the cast, he used the threatening technique, and Okan Cabalar spread the news that he was part of the cast for Organize Isler 2. On the other hand, bringing Kivanc Tatlitug to the cast took poetic evolvement.

‘My adventure with Yilmaz Erdogan started with Butterflies Dream,’ says Tatlitug, ‘during the time we worked on that project, we had built a solid brotherhood, a friendship, and it grew even stronger from then on. A few years back we were talking and I said, ‘Yilmaz abi, why don’t you write a scenario, so that we can work together and act together?’ When we get together, we always talk about the projects he has in mind, he reads the scenarios that he writes, and we talk about them.

We had heard about many of his scenarios but none of us had heard that he was writing the second Organize Isler. One day I received a phone call from Yilmaz abi, and he said, ‘I am sending you a scenario, take a look, decide, and we can talk about it later.’ For me Organize Isler is an extraordinary movie. Having that kind of responsibility in such a movie and trying to portray the role as it deserves?? Comedy, a type of role that I have never done before, question marks were spinning around my head while I was thinking…

I read the script, of course, and it was a great scenario, no need to even mention that. Yilmaz asked me what I thought of the scenario? And I said I really liked it. He replied “ So??” I said, I like it but my part is too short, you need to write more. So Yilmaz Erdogan added to it, then I said, ‘Wait, how about a little more then.’ Thanks to Butterflies Dream, we always have a different, poetic like, rhythmic dialogue going on between us.

In the end, after going back and forth, Saruhan’s role was changed  from being a guest role to a main role in the movie. And Yilmaz Erdogan is thrilled that Kivanc is part of the cast. Kivanc Tatlitug is doing an outstanding work portraying Blondie Saruhan. Although this is his first comedy project, he is showing off all of his talent. ‘I was very hesitant in the beginning. Under normal conditions comedy is not something I would prefer to do. Actually, I always had a desire, but until now, I did not come across a script that I was interested in.’

Riza Kocaoglu says, ‘When it comes to comedy, all actors get hesitant, and this is valid for me as well.’ And he adds, ‘If the topic and script is funny, then our job becomes easier. Seventy percent of comedy projects suffer from that, because the script is not funny enough, actors needs to put in their personal efforts to make it funnier. In this project we did not have to do that.’

Kivanc Tatlitug, an actor who played in both action and dramatic roles, evaluates Erdogan’s directorial work in this project as compared to his other projects, ‘Comedy has different dynamics than any other project. And we have worked on two different projects so far.’

As we were wrapping up, Yilmaz Erdogan added, ‘We do not need to talk about the final, because soon, we will start working on the third one for example. Did I ever mentioned that we are going to film the third sequel?’ He winks like Asim in Organize Isler and adds, ‘I will be done, I promise but I have a number in my head, once I find that number I will quit writing.’

I never thought I would enjoy talking about the topic of Fraud but I wanted to say ‘please don’t stop writing. Make a TV series out of it even.’ After all, we need to laugh at the thieves on the screen, to make us forget about the real thieves we have in our daily lives.”


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