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Over the past decade, Can Yaman has become one of the most recognizable faces on European television. He successfully moved from Turkish primetime dramas to Italian mainstream series and is now involved in major international projects. His career shows a clear evolution in roles and image, becoming more mature, versatile, and internationally focused over time.

Today, Can Yaman stands out as the character of the year. He is able to work across different genres and markets, from romantic series to historical drama, crime shows, and iconic IP adaptations. His projects in 2024–2025 clearly reflect a strong artistic growth and a strategic positioning as an international leading man.

Early Success and Breakthrough in Italy

Yaman first gained widespread popularity in Italy thanks to Turkish romantic dramas that quickly became cult titles among international audiences. In Bitter Sweet –  he played Ferit Aslan, a young, disciplined entrepreneur marked by emotional restraint and professional rigor. In this role, Yaman presented a markedly different image from the one audiences associate with him today: clean-shaven, polished, and understated, with a controlled charm rather than overt sensuality. The performance highlighted his ability to embody a “good boy” archetype, relying on subtlety and emotional tension rather than physical magnetism alone.
The definitive turning point came with DayDreamer  which transformed Yaman into an international phenomenon. The series amplified his appeal, blending romantic comedy with melodrama and showcasing a more charismatic, free-spirited masculinity. DayDreamer consolidated his fan base across Europe and positioned him as a leading man capable of carrying long-running, emotionally driven narratives.

Reinventing the Screen Persona: Il Turco
A significant shift in tone and ambition arrived with El Turco, adapted from the novel El Turco by Orhan Yeniaras. Set in the late 17th century, the series casts Yaman as Hasan Balaban, an Ottoman Janissary who survives the failed Siege of Vienna in 1683 and finds refuge in the Alpine village of Moena, in northern Italy.
Wounded, sentenced to death, and far from his homeland, Balaban gradually becomes a protector and hero for the local community. In Il Turco, Yaman adopts a visibly more mature and intense physical presence, aligned with a darker, more layered character arc. The role marks a clear departure from romantic archetypes, emphasizing resilience, displacement, and moral complexity, and reinforcing his ambition to engage with historical and culturally hybrid narratives.

Italian Prime Time: Viola come il mare
Between 2022 and 2024, Yaman further strengthened his position in the Italian market as the male lead in Viola come il mare, produced by RTI and Lux Vide. The series is based on Conosci l’estate?, published by Sellerio, and directed by Francesco Vicario.
Opposite Francesca Chillemi, Yaman portrays Francesco Demir, a chief police inspector endowed with exceptional investigative instincts but deeply distrustful of human relationships. The character’s emotional opacity and internal conflicts allowed Yaman to explore a more restrained and psychologically nuanced performance. Viola come il mare proved crucial in repositioning him not merely as a romantic icon, but as a credible protagonist within procedural and character-driven drama, appealing to a broader, mainstream Italian audience.

Toward Global IP: Sandokan and New International Projects
In May 2024, filming began on one of the most high-profile projects of Yaman’s career: a new screen adaptation of Sandokan, the legendary pirate created by Emilio Salgari. The first episode drew around 5.8 million viewers with approximately a 34 % share in prime time, an exceptionally high result for contemporary Italian fiction.

At the same time, Yaman is currently shooting a thriller series in the Canary Islands for Secuoya Studios: El Laberinto de las Mariposas  (in Italian as Il Labirinto delle Farfalle). It is an eight-episode romantic thriller produced by Secuoya Studios and marks Yaman’s first Spanish-language television project, being filmed in Spain. In the series, Yaman plays Kaplan, a secret agent betrayed and wrongly accused who becomes Spain’s most wanted man while attempting to prove his innocence — a story that blends action, intrigue, and emotional depth.