Halit: -Which camera? This one?

Alvaro: -We are starting our journey through Onur and Sherazade’s “1001 nights”. Here,
precisely, where this story started. It was just here, Binyapi, which is actually a university
nowadays, where Onur and Sherazade meet.

Halit: -Friends from Chile, I’m very flattered. I love you very much.

Alvaro: -We are in Üsküdar. This is the Asian part of Istanbul. This is like a kind of river walk. On
our backs, the European side, obviously. But here, just here, you will recognise the island-
castle, that has been part of the set of many scenes in Binbir Gece. It’s called Kız Kulesi.

Halit: -All those things are from here, from this land. They’re something very typical of Turkey.

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

The boom has been so big, that even Chilean programmes have made parodies of the
successful series.
[Parody shown to Halit: “I would do anything to kiss that mouth right now! Although you have
eaten noodles with onion…”]
And several Chilean men have attended to contests that look for the double of the heartthrob
of the moment.
[Man in the casting: -My name is Ricardo Traslaviña.]
Halit: -That one is more handsome than me!
[Man in the casting: -I’m happy to represent Onur. He is a sensation between woman and they
have accepted me very good as the character.]

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

Alvaro: -What has captivated the audience the most, is the natural landscape, the urban and
natural scenery of Binbir Gece, of this magical Istanbul who is divided in two continents.
Something that was considered from the beginning for Binbir Gece’s scriptwriters.

Halit: -To me, everything about being famous outside Turkey started with Binbir Gece. I’m still
surprised, I don’t get used to it. I feel strange.
[Women in the street:
-To most of the Chilean people, Onur is the first thing they talk about.
-He is a very handsome man.
-I love Onur! When he gets angry, he looks even more gorgeous!
-Very handsome
-He’s very handsome, a gentleman, and very honest.]

Alvaro: -That red house over there, Onur’s mother’s house. She lives there. We have seen here
many times drinking tea, talking to her son, arguing with him. It’s part of the scenery of the
locations of Binbir Gece.

Halit: -Actually, I think Onur is a person full of affection, full of love, and he needs to be loved.
And he deserves to be loved.

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

Halit: -Greeting to Chile

Alvaro: -And we receive your greetings here, thank you very much, Onur, for being here tonight
on this Thursday the 19th, at only twelve to eleven p.m.. You have already been to Istanbul, in
an evident trip. Last week we witnessed the exclusive statements, this lovely conversation that
you have seen with Bergüzar Korel, our Sherazade. But we’ll keep knowing the secrets of Binbir
Gece, here in “Mas Vale Tarde”, with the second part, the co-protagonist who precisely meet
and becomes partner, husband and then father of Bergüzar Korel’s son.
Welcome to “Mas Vale Tarde”, next, we present you the result of our job in Istanbul, in a very
lovely conversation with Onur. Here it is.

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

Alvaro: -Today, probably, this is the highly anticipated moment for all the women in Chile. Here
with us, Halit Ergenc, well-known in Chile as Onur. Thank you very much for being here in “Mas
Vale Tarde”.

Halit: -Thank you. You’re very kind.

Alvaro: -Well, this is not the Chilean public. They would be screams if we were in Chile! This is
our flag. Chile’s flag. And it has been sent to you by a group of women.

[Group of women: -Greetings from Chile!]

Alvaro: -Everything because of their love for you, Halit.

Halit: -Thank you very much. Thank you. I’m going to keep it. Thank you very much. This is a
very lovely gift.

Alvaro: -There it is. The Chilean flag. Can you imagine it? What happens to you when somebody
sends you this kind of show of affection from a distant country?

Halit: -I’m not so used to it. Before Binbir Gece, I wasn’t used to these kinds of showings. To
me, everything about being famous outside Turkey started with Binbir Gece. I’m still surprised,
I don’t get used to it. I feel strange. But it is a strange happiness. What I feel is a peculiar
happiness. Especially when I go to some of these countries, people show me a lot of affection,
a lot of interest. It’s a happiness difficult to describe. It’s like a feeling. It’s like people is very
warm-hearted in our country and seeing the same kind of warmth in other country is
incredible. And it gives us a lot of happiness. It’s like we’re at home when we go to another
country. They receive us in that way. They show us their love. It’s one of the most beautiful
things a person can experience.

Alvaro: -That talks about the series. Talks about Binbir Gece. About how universal it is, and how
universal Onur is.

Halit: -Yes, sure. That’s right.

Alvaro: -Does Onur deserve so much affection?

Halit: -Onur only deserves Sherazade’s love.

Part 2:

Halit: -Actually, I think Onur is a person full of affection, full of love, and he needs to be loved.
And he deserves to be loved. All people have obstacles, he has his own traumas and
complexes, and he has ways to keep on going, and he can only surpass it with Sherazade’s love.
And Sherazade is the person he loves most in this world and, of course, he deserves her love.

Alvaro: -What made you fall in love with Onur?

Halit: -I remember the first meeting we had about the series, they took a part of the script and
there was the offer. There were a lot of people. Bergüzar was there, too. When I saw that
scene, I said: “Yes. I definitely want to do this character”. There was like a very thin line
between the affection Onur needed, and the protection and the obstacles he had in order to
express that love. For example, there are boys that, when they love a person or when they fall
in love with a girl, tend to hurt her. This is a similar situation. We could say: “Such a rude guy.
Such bad man!” but actually, there is innocence within him. It’s the way, the only way he found
to show his love, to live it.

[After Binbir Gece clip] Halit: -I cannot look at Onur with an impartial eye, because since I saw
him, it will always be my own comment about him, my own interpretation. Just like you look at
me from your own point of view, I look at your from my own. That’s the way I see Onur.
Just like you are going to tell your wife and daughter about this show, I am going to tell my wife
and daughter in another way. We are never objective. That’s why I cannot be objective with
Onur. Onur is my own interpretation of Onur, and I could never say I’m going to say an
objective comment about Onur. That’s impossible. I found something in Onur’s heart, and
that’s how I started.

Alvaro: -It’s your Onur. He’s yours...

Halit: -Yes, sure. Of course.

[Binbir Gece clip]

Alvaro: -Could Onur had fallen in love with a woman who isn’t Sherazade?

Halit: -Impossible. Onur can be with many women, and in fact, he has been with many women.
But his love is only for Sherazade. Onur’s sensibility can only be understood by a sensible
woman like her. Onur’s wounds can only be healed by a sensible woman like Sherazade. They
have a dynamic. Sherazade is innocent. The innocence and needs she has go hand in hand with
Onur’s little trust, as well as the rest of the people. It’s peculiar because, at the same time, he’s
an extremely protector man. And it that sense, they make a perfect couple. I don’t know if you
use this expression there (in Chile), but here, we say “they’re made for each other.” And they
have found each other. That doesn’t happen all the time.

Alvaro: -Onur deserved Sherazade and Sherazade deserved Onur.

Halit: -Yes, of course.

[BBG clip]
Alvaro: -When you refer about the scene you had, about this thin line between the affection,
Onur’s need of affection in one hand, and he obstacles he faces, which scene is that exactly? Is
the one of the “black night”?

Halit: -The end of the first episode. Sherazade asks for money to Onur, and Onur replies he is
going to give her the money but, in return, she has to spend a night with him.

Alvaro: -Does Onur do it because of his insecurity? For his need of affection? Why does he do
it?

Halit: -He does it because he likes the woman in front of him, and he’s testing her. There’s a
thing called “love at first sight”, and he truly falls in love with her at first sight. But, since he is a
rich and very powerful man, and very attractive and he has many fake women in front of him,
it’s very difficult for him to fall in love with one of them. That’s my interpretations, that’s how I
built this character. He could have made that offer to many women, but in that moment, he
wants to prove how severe, how innocent, how much need that woman has. He feels that
need, he makes fun of her, but he doesn’t put himself at risk to declare his love. The proof, who
this woman is in fact, and the woman with the choice. And to Onur, it’s more than enough. And
that is where the story begins.

Alvaro: -Therefore, there is no deception when she says: “It’s OK, I’m going to spend a night
with you”…

Halit: -We are used to people getting defensive. That’s why Onur gets confused. He first says
no, and she turns her back on him. But he needs her so much, and he doesn’t know it, that, in
that moment, when she says yes, he gets disappointed but, deep down, he knows this woman
has something special. She’s not the kind of woman he is used to.

PART 3:

Halit: -That’s how the love story starts.

Alvaro: -Did Onur have to offer her money to test her?

Halit: -He had no obligation, but people who are in that position don’t know how to relate from
heart to heart. They always use money, don’t they? Considering that, I think it’s the easiest way
he found to relate to her.

Alvaro: -How do you explain the fact that women have understood, and not only understood,
but also forgiven Onur for the “black night”?

H: - I’d like to ask you a question. The first night, when the first night ends, Onur is lying on the
bed and Sherazade is collecting her belongings and leaving the hotel. What do you think Onur
feels in that scene? I’m going to tell you what Onur felt and why he was forgiven: because that
night, Onur, what he actually felt…

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

Alvaro: [laughs] –“I’m going to ask you a question” What do you think, uh? We are chatting
with Onur, Halit Ergenc, in our trip to Istanbul. These are the secrets of “1001 Nights”. And
there is a question that is being formulated by himself and he sets it out for us. Now we’re
going to make a small break to keep on talking to Halit Ergenc, Onur. We’ll be back!

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

Alvaro: -How do you explain the fact that women have understood, and not only understood,
but also forgiven Onur for the “black night”?

H: - I’d like to ask you a question. The first night, when the first night ends, Onur is lying on the
bed and Sherazade is collecting her belongings and leaving the hotel. What do you think Onur
feels in that scene? I’m going to tell you what Onur felt and why he was forgiven, because that
night, Onur, what he actually felt was that he was used, and he was ashamed of his own
manhood, because the women he had in front of him, was the woman he loved.
He already felt different things for her. However, she could share something with him without
expressing any emotion, without feelings between them. Each women knew what Onur felt in
that moment, because the door opened by that women, opened the door for Onur’s
forgiveness. Because Onur didn’t got up from that bed with pride. He felt ashamed of himself.

Alvaro: -You said it was the important scene. VERY important for you. That it made you decide
on participating in the project.

H: -Because it’s very profound. There is a very deep question that wants to be solved in that
scene. When the script was given to me, with the analysis of the characters and without the
necessity of reading it entirely, we already knew some things. We had a lot of information
about the characters: where did they come from, how they were. So, there was a very special
situation that had to be solved. We all make mistakes, we see it in the movies. Sometimes, a
word we said to another person can change everyone’s life. Or something we did, or something
we didn’t do. And sometimes, we don’t even do it thinking consciously, but it’s like a reflex.
What Onur did was like a reflex. What he did was the reflex of a feeling. It was Onur who
started everything. It was Onur who fell in love with her. It was Onur who wanted to have a
relationship with her. But since he didn’t know how to do it, he chose that way as a reflex. And
then, the story transforms itself in him trying to mend, to resolve the mistake he made. And
that’s why it is an absolutely attractive story for me.

A: -Did you had a moral?

H: -As Onur did?

A: -Yes! [laughs]

H: -I ask, just in case! [laughs]

A: -Did you, as Halit, have morally and ethically solved this you’re telling me?

H: -While I was acting, yes. I also knew where the story was going. So, I knew hoe the story was
going to develop. And I built the character according to that knowledge.

A: -The actor had it so clear, that he also “tortured” his partner, making her repeat the scene
for 8 hours until she finally find that anger that she had to feel!
H: [laughs] –Yes! Did my wife told you that?

A: -That was told by your beloved wife! [laughs]

H: -What did she told you? What did she say? [laughs]

A: -She said… let’s see. Let’s see what she said!

PART 4:

Berguzar: -There is a very important scene to me. I'll never forget it. The 150.000-dollar scene. I
think it was a scene that lasted 8 hours because I couldn’t act. I couldn’t do it. I first performed
it crying. Then Halit said to me: “You can’t start the scene crying because I won't be able to
offer you the money”. “Yes, you’re right” I said to him. But it couldn’t be done that way. The
director wanted another thing. At the end, Halit said he couldn’t act like that. He asked me:
“Do you know Stanislavski? So, let’s allow Berguzar to go to rest, to relax, and then she can
come back. On the contrary, she won’t be able to film”. I tried to do it, but I couldn’t. I knew he
was doing it on purpose, to put pressure on me, to make me get the role. I got nervous. They
were 8 hours. It was a game Halit did to me! He took everyone away from the scene. Everybody
moved away from me. And only in that moment we could do the scene.

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

Alvaro: -That’s Bergüzar’s version. Now let’s hear, (I think we’re being fair) Halit’s version.

Halit: -The truth… [laughs]

Alvaro: -The truth has been said [laughs]

H: -The truth is that things went that way. There are many acting methods, but I actually don’t
know many of them. I didn’t graduate as an actor. I don’t have any idea about theatre
methods: this kind of characters act like this, etc. I am like a guerrilla. I do what I have to do,
what I need to do in that moment. I pay attention, I observe the other actors and I get it all off
my chest. When we we’re filming with Bergüzar, she wasn’t there, she wasn’t connected. We
tried 4, 5 times, and she couldn’t do it. She was shy, afraid. The scene didn’t come out, so I
said: “This cannot be, it has to be a real feeling. It has to come out from an actual feeling”. At
least, that what I think about acting. That’s what you actually have to feel. To reach that point,
you have to feel. “Don’t you know how to do it?” - I said to Bergüzar – “You can’t do it?” Yes, it
was very hard. But I talked to the director and I know Bergüzar, we’re friends since a long time
ago, and she knows how I am, what kind of person I am. And, at the beginning, she thought I
was joking with her. “I won’t be part of this joke” - she said - “You won’t use it. This method
won’t be effective with me because I know you, you’re cheating me, and you’ll see it won’t
work for you”. But as I carried on, and I continued being even more severe, she started to get
frustrated. She started to get angry with me, so she got nervous, she got upset. And I said to
her: “Look, if it’s necessary we’ll continue until the morning. I’m sure Bergüzar will remember
better than me.” But we had a little aggressive dialogue, and she got very nervous. And it was
there when we did the scene.
[Money-offer scene]

H: -Of course, we talked about it later. And the scene was very important so there wasn’t
another option to film it. I am not that kind of person who prefer those methods, but that’s
what we had to do in that moment. It was our only way out. We could have talked, agreed, but
we had to do this exercise. And then I also entered in some kind of feeling, after that exercise.
And she also stopped being distant, nervous and shy. She left her role and got into the feeling.
She covered the character in that feeling of anger, and it was there where we found the right
point.

A: -Is this true? You also enter in some kind of guilty feeling with that “challenge” you were
doing to her. And that combination seems like going with Onur.

H: -Yes, of course. In that moment, I felt guilty because I made her sad, I got her nervous, and I
felt so much respect for her. She got a little confused, she felt upset, but then she calmed
down.

A: -A blame that was very useful for Onur in that scene.

H: -Yes, yes.

A: -Yes?

H: -Yes, sure. We worked with only one camera and we filmed it all with only one camera. The
camera moves and films from only one place. And there isn’t another camera that is filming me
from another place, doing the reverse-angle shot. It films, films, films and then it stops. Then
they pass to the other side, and film your counterpart. So, we can continue with the same
feeling, but we don’t have that opportunity with two cameras, in a dialogue. We then work
with only one camera. You’re working for the person in front of you and the person in front of
you is working for you, looking at you.

A: -Was it planned for you to be delayed for 8 hours?

H: -No, of course not. It was very long. And she was dissatisfied because it took too long. And
she felt frustrated because she couldn’t do it. Of course she didn’t expect it to last so long.

A: -But you were satisfied with the result…

H: -Yes, yes. But it was very hard and it was the first time I did something like that, and the only
one. I didn’t do it again. It isn’t something I would actually like to do, but it was the only thing
that saved us in that moment. Of course, we had some kind of friendship, but as professionals,
we had never shared so much before. And that first approach, so intense, as professionals was
very fruitful at the moment of acting.

PART 5:

Alvaro: -Have you had any other experience in telling a love story like Binbir Gece?
Halit: -I had never filmed a love story like this one before. I had worked in series, for example, I
had played a husband who cheats on his wife, they have to children, they argue all the time. A
bad husband. But never a love story as passionate as Binbir Gece. Even though every character
has his own complexity, I’d never had the opportunity of participating in a story as complex as
Binbir Gece.

A: -Didn’t your life as an actor get disorganized when facing a story like that?

H: -To me, it was something like this: I work in detail on the character, especially for series,
because they’re different from movies or theatre. When I work for a series, and if the series is
going to last a long time, that character needs to have many sides, many aspects. Therefore, I
have to work on every feeling. Let’s say the series lasts 4 years, or 3 years. During those years,
you have to work on the personal experiences of that character, sometimes, without having
lived certain things in your life, and it gets hard when you hadn’t had the responsibility of those
experiences. However, I can have those experiences through the character I am playing. For
example, Onur is the character of that love story, I feel I have the experience of everything he
has lived, because I did the series, and that makes me feel more prepared for life regarding
those similar experiences. To sum up, what I want to say is that, in your life, you may have
many experiences from different lives that are, in fact, from other lives, but we borrow them.
And that’s what this profession gives us.

A: -Your characters teach you. You learn something from your characters…

H: -Yes. In some way, yes. I don’t know how to explain it correctly… Let me think… How to say
it? Mmm... Yes, I could say that in some way, yes. Let’s say it’s a brother, the character is a
brother. The brother has a life and you are a witness of your brother’s life, constantly. And you
see your brother all the time. The place your brother has and the life your brother lives have a
distance, actually. It’s almost 80%. It’s like you live an eighty percent of his life. You gain the
experience. Not a hundred percent, but an eighty percent. I don’t know if I am making myself
clear… You live it, but you live it just a little from the outside and a lot from the inside. You live
it by feeling it. It is impossible not to learn something.

A: -Is there any memory you have from the series in which you feel you are learning?

H: -Well, the entire series is about that, actually. I learn more than Onur’s scriptwriter and
director do. Since I am Onur, I play Onur’s character, they think about Onur and they made us
meet. Me (Halit) and Onur. But I am the one who makes it reality and who gives life to it. So, I
think more about Onur than everyone else, because I am the one who gives life to him. And
he’s more than what it is written in the script. There are many things I think Onur must have.
Those are things that neither the director nor the author know. But those are things that just
come up during the series. The marriage, for example. Before the marriage, a story appear on
TV. And that awakens a bunch of feelings in Onur, so he takes a definite attitude. And of course,
I (Halit) am a witness of that, but not only looking at him from the inside, because I also live it
from the inside.

A: -Did you have fun while doing the series?

H: -A lot. We had fun, yes. But not always laughing. Sometimes, we watched the behind-the-
scenes images and we died laughing.
PART 6:

Halit: -Sometimes, that happened to us. And sometimes, just filming and giving life to the script
gave us a lot of enjoyment. It’s like having a good meal or had a good conversation. And we
ended up with that feeling. And of course, there were moments in which we laughed a lot,
with a guffaw.

Title: The Secrets of “1001 Nights”

Alvaro: -What is the aspect, the ascendant, of Binbir Gece? It’s not only TV. It’s not only a
series. Because there is something important here, about the human nature, apparently…

Halit: -That’s the reason, because it’s a series about the human beings. It doesn’t matter which
country they’re from, which religion, which race. It doesn’t matter. It’s a feeling that any human
can understand, because it’s a universal feeling: love, isn’t it? Any people we ask, any viewer:
Why do we run in life? What do we want? What do we look for in life? What do we look for?
We look for the love that makes us happy, and that’s the matter of the series. To find the real
love. And also, how we destroy the relationship that gives us so much happiness. What
responsibility do we have in that? Do we take it or not? And this has no difference in religion or
language or anything. This is lived by everyone in the same way in any part of the world.

[BBG clip]

Halit: -People think that when perfect love arrives, total happiness comes. A hundred percent
of happiness. And that’s not real. And how do we take that love and how do we make ourselves
responsible for that love is what remains inside of us. And knowing how to carry the sadness
that love brings and the responsibility that love needs. Love doesn’t feel the sun. Sometimes, it
may be cloudy or even stormy.

Alvaro: -Onur, in addition, is a millionaire.

Halit: -Yes.

Alvaro: -He is an aristocratic guy. Is Halit close or far away from that world? How do you see
that world?

H: -I’m too far away from that kind of wealth. He made thousands of people work. He had
factories- well, they weren’t factories, they were building companies, and he grew up in an
aristocratic environment. I am not like that. I didn’t have a family like that. It’s something very
distant. That kind of life is very distant from mine. Some people live in that way and others, in
other way. I don’t. I see it in this way: some people are mean to be like this, and some don’t.
But, if you ask me how I did to trust myself in this aristocratic way of thinking and living… Well,
it was hard, but the first thing to do is believe in yourself as the character. And that’s what I
believed about Onur, as a super millionaire, super rich man who had many people working for
him, cars, houses, yachts… who had this and that. I had to believe it first, believe it for real. As
if everything was mine. And then, forget about it. Everyone lives their own reality inside
themselves, and we forget it because it’s part of our real life. Everyone lives everything from
the inside and believes their life is a standard. That’s what I mean with “forgetting”: accepting
everything as the truth, without questioning.

A: -Playing this rich, millionaire character but deprived of love, probably put things on a nice
scale of playing, interpreting everything. Mmm… Citizen Kane? Rosebud…

H: -Yes. Yes, bit like that. But we put it a little more of love and sensibility, to make it like a fairy
tale, to make him fall in love with Sherazade. There are people, yes, who is hard to find. But a
man with so many material responsibilities as Onur, who is always ambitious and taking
advantage of people, it’s difficult for someone like that to happen what happened to Onur. It’s
a little bit like fairy tales. It’s a fairy tale that Onur has fallen in love in that way with that
women.

[BBG Clip]

A: -Could this series have been made in any other place that wasn’t Istanbul?

H: -I don’t think so. Impossible. Because the important thing about the making of the character
is having grown up in Turkey. He has to be Turkish. A producer may adapt that story to his
country, but he would have to change some things from the characters to adapt them to that
country. Onur has to be a rich man from Istanbul who has a story with his father, who lived
away from his mother. And for Sherazade to have such a long-suffering life, she has to be a
typical woman from Anatolia. A Turkish woman who married a Turkish man who wasn’t
accepted by his family. All those things are from here, from this land. They’re something very
typical of Turkey.

A: -If you go to Chile and say “Turkish man”: “Ah, Onur! Onur!”

H: -That’s nice. Good. We feel honoured. We went to a lot of places because of the Binbir Gece
series, and we realised there were people that even learned Turkish only because of the series.
And we got very surprised. And they learned by watching the series in Turkish, because they
watched it with subtitles. You watch it with the dub. But in some countries you watch it in the
original language, with subtitles. And thanks to the series, they learned our language. They said
to us: “Hello”, “How are you?”, “what do you want?” and “How do you feel?”… Questions like
that. They learned all those short phrases by watching the series.

PART 7:

Halit: -It was a big honour for us, because those are things that bring people closer together,
that bring towns closer together, and that bring countries closer together. We tend to think
that there are many barriers between countries but, actually, those barriers are on the maps,
there are no limits between people. That’s something one learns with these kinds of jobs, and
in this way, what we get to do is to erase these barriers. And of course, for us, it’s the reason of
a big pride.

[title: the secrets of 1001 nights]

Alvaro: -There is a way of making series, in Chile, that doesn’t look like the things we’re
watching in this Binbir Gece Production. They are long scenes. And what has attracted
attention in Chile is that this style or way of acting, of making a series, has been successful.

H: -Our series are a bit slow, you mean that. That the dialogues are long, the character look at
each other too much, that they speak very slowly. You mean that, don’t you?

A: -Yes, yes! I mean that! Yes.

H: -Everything was very slow. But it was because we were giving time to people to live the
feelings we were expressing to them. For them to enjoy the looks, each word. And that’s also
very important. You have to have time to feel…
[AFTER BBG CLIP]
Everything is done quickly nowadays, and it’s like people can’t follow the pace. That’s life,
anyway. Life happens too fast. Instead, in our series, everything is like in an ancient time. It’s
given more importance to emotions.

A: -Another thing that really attracts our attention is that there is nothing explicit. There is no
explicit sex either. Only looks…

H: -That’s a little because of the cultural difference. It’s an option we prefer, because in Turkey
there are many kinds of people, very different people who watch the series. And in the series,
it is not necessary to talk about a sexual desire with explicit scenes. There are also those kinds
of series that have those kinds of scenes, for example, there are actually more erotic scenes, I
don’t know if you have already seen them or you’re going to see them. But, we also make
those kinds of scenes with a very important sensibility.

[after BBG clip]

Alvaro: -There is a richness in the scripts, too. In Onur’s scripts out of the mouth of Halit. Do
you remember anyone? Anyone yours?

Halit: -Oh, it’s has been a long time…

A: -For example…

H: -“Friend, do not trust in women. Laugh at their promises.” Or something like that.
[after BBG clip]

H: He reads it from a book. What he tries to tell with that is that Onur doesn’t trust in women.

A: -Is there any love script you remember? Look, I’m going to tell you some of them, which are
the ones that left a mark on the Chilean women: “I don’t want to sleep. I want to look at you. I
rest in the sparkle of your eyes.”
[After BBG clip]
A: -“And when nothing exists, there will be love.”
[After BBG clip]
A: -“The petals of my bed turned into roses with you.”
[After BG clip]
A: -“[your love] makes me smile, Sherazade. You are my reason for living.”
H: -Yes, it’s beautiful.

A: -The scriptwriter is responsible for writing these scripts. Do you complement them? Do you
write them, too? Do you correct them, put something of yourself?

H: -Not precisely in the script you’ve just read, but yes, sometimes I make some corrections or
change something I need, to adapt it to the situation. Sometimes I asked the scriptwriter:
“Please, can you change this?” I feel better saying it in this way: the author gave us the
possibility. But in that script you quoted, there wasn’t any necessity. But I remember that scene
very much. I love it. I did it with great pleasure.

PART 8:

Alvaro: -Women may believe that the actor who is able to play Onur, doesn’t know shyness…
Are you shy?

Halit: -Not too much, actually. But I’m not super sociable, either. I am a little isolated, in fact,
and a little bit different from the majority.

A: -How does that coexist with fame?

H: -I try to carry it all together in a setting of affection and love. I try to show affection to
people who show me affection. I try to be empathetic, to have empathy with people, with
journalists, with paparazzi.
[after Halit’s pics]
I can’t pretend I have no fame, because that wouldn’t be real. And I can’t live fame as if it were
my only reality, either. My wife and I try to live a modest life, just like we were before, like we
were raised as children. And we try to have a life in accordance to that. And we also want our
son to grow up in that way. That why we try to make him understand this: the relationship with
the media, with people. And we try to be relaxed and live a life away from fame.

A: -We asked in Santiago de Chile… We asked the audience, mainly women: What happens to
them with Onur? What happens? Look what they told us.

[Question in the screen: “What does Onur have that wins Chilean women over?”]

Women in the street:

1-To most of the Chilean people, Onur is the first thing they talk about.
2-He is a very handsome man.
3-I love Onur! When he gets angry, he looks even more gorgeous!
4-He’s handsome, handsome. Very handsome. [laughs]
5-He’s very handsome.
6-He’s very handsome, a gentleman, and very honest.
[after BBG clip]
Woman with the cap: -He has such beautiful eyes.
Woman with glasses: -I love his eyes! [laughs]
Boy in the street: -They talk about him all day like they were looking at him: “Oh, Onur! And his
eyes, and his mouth” They turned him into a super gallant, like he really killed it here.
Woman n° 4 again: He’s too attractive.
[After Halit’s pics]
Girl: -He’s very gallant and mysterious, because you never know what he wants to say or what
he feels
Man in a suit: -Onur seems like a quite experienced guy
Woman n° 4 again: -It attracts very much the fact that he’s quite indifferent and tiresome. And
it’s like women like that [laughs].
Women n° 3 again: -I would love Chile to be full of Onurs everywhere!

A: -There is a person there that says: “I hope Chile would be full of Onurs” [laughs]

H: -I hope not. If there were a lot of Onurs I would send them to you [laughs] –all for you, let’s
go to Chile, everyone! [laughs]

A: -What do you think Chileans- the Chilean ladies think about you? That there are doubles of
you, besides, that they make humour, parody with the series.

H: -It thrills me a lot. I talked about it with my wife and we said: “Now, how are we going to go
to Chile?”, because it’s one of the countries we’d like to visit. We want to know South America,
but “how are we going to go to Chile after this? It’s very difficult to go there after this
reaction!” But we’ll find a way. We’ll find a way to go, for sure. Sometimes, we say: “Let’s go on
vacation. Let’s go somewhere new.”, but we don’t want anyone to disturb us. “Mmmm, then,
what? Are we going to miss Chile for that?” But we said: “No. We’ll find a way to go.” But well,
apart from that, it’s an honour for us. I don’t know if I’m being repetitive, but when a person is
so beloved and it is being shown so much love, and it’s even congratulated by his professional
talent, I can’t think of a better feeling than that one.

[title: the secrets of BBG]

Alvaro: -Oh, a couple of weeks ago we were in this city that’s here on our backs but, really, we
keep it in our heart. All the team of “Mas Vale Tarde” that travelled to Istanbul to know the
secrets of 1001 nights and the characters that are played that have been made part of all of
you, too. There is still a little left to watch. The only thing I can tell you now, is that we’re going
to a little break, but how to transmit you my thanks? “Çok teşekkür ederim”. Thank you very
much for being there. We go and then come back, in Mas Vale Tarde. Thank you very much.

[title: the secrets of BBG]

Alvaro: -Do you feel more comfortable with the beard, or like we see you as Onur every night in
Chile?

Halit: -It’s been a long time without shaving. It’s like… 4 years since I have the beard. The beard
changes a person because it changes the way you look at yourself in the mirror every morning.
Yes, I think I changed a little with this beard, but I won’t keep living with this beard, it’s has
been enough. I’m going to shave it. In fact, I look older than I am with this beard, so I’m boring.
But I think I’m going to shave it in a year.

A: -Halit Bey, besides giving you thanks again, and if I repeat myself, I don’t care. We’re really
going to fall short. Many, many thanks. I want to give you-

H: -I want to thank you.

A: -Thank you very much. I offer you the camera, to send a message, say what you want to all
your followers in Chile.
H: -Which camera? Which one? Friends from Chile, I’m very touched. I love you very much. I
hope I can go, I hope I can visit you all. If something is organized, like going to Chile, of course!
With a lot of happiness and very content, we would go. I hope someday I could meet you and I
also hope that this job we are doing cause a bonding between us. A bonding that starts with
the series, and continues forever. A strong bonding between our countries.

[after pics]

A: -We also hope that this trip we have made from this small country of South America, also
contributes to the bonding.

H: -We want to thank you because you came here from a very distant place. A very long trip.
Thank you.

A: -This wine-

H: -Chilean wine! What a joy!

A: -In my country, it helps a lot.

H: -Wow… what a joy!

A: -Halit Ergenc, thank you very much for receiving us in this way.

H: -Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Bergüzar and I are going to drink it for special
moment, with a lot of pleasure.

A: -Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much…

[title: the secrets of BBG]

Alvaro: -Ohhh, we were so happy! Needless to say we were happy. The people there, on screen
in this moment, are responsible for making this show, Mas Vale Tarde. We travelled 5 people to
Istanbul. The result has been brought to your screens. First, with Bergüzar Korel and now with
Halit Ergenc. It also took part the scriptwriter, the musician, Kirac. We give them our thanks for
having appreciated our work here in Mas Vale Tarde in the way they did. To all, congratulations
and thanks a lot. And this continues today, Thursday. Good luck to our national team that plays
on Monday. We also meet again on Monday night, hoping to have very good news. We go well
up to here. Congratulations, have a good rest, may you be well, and this was “Mas Vale Tarde”.