Meet Berk Karaca | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Berk Karaca and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Berk, what do you attribute your success to?
Wow, this is actually a very good and complicated question. Mainly because I believe there are a lot of different factors behind my success that I had to learn by myself and carry with me along the way. The real challenge here for me was, not having a mentor. Thus, I had to find my own values, purpose, and a definite plan. I had to start building and becoming an asset from the scratch. It was definitely not easy. However, with a burning desire and the definiteness of my purpose, I was lucky enough to find the factors that brought me success in the acting business. The most important them of all, in my opinion, is failing/being rejected… Now, I have been in the acting business for almost more than 2 years.. and ugh god knows how many times I got rejected, thus failed. But I never give up. In fact, each rejection drove me even crazier and made me even hungrier. It was overwhelming and destroying my confidence in the first place. It made me question myself, my goals, and my craft at some point. BUT once I learned the value of failing, everything has changed. I become being grateful for my failures once I realized what “failure” brought in to me and to my craft. In a way, it opened my eyes, taught me to learn from my failures, see my weaknesses and strengths. So at the end of the day, I was able to work on them. Work on my weaknesses to be able to turn my craft into an asset and work on my strengths to be able to showcase my talent even stronger. It also taught me the value of persistence and commitment. So, no matter what’s been going on in my life, I always showed up. ALWAYS! Once I valued persistence in the acting business and once I become absolutely committed to it, magic happened! It has changed my mindset entirely. Now most actors, give up. Because they are not persistent, they are afraid of being rejected, they let rejection destroy their confidence, therefore, their careers. I say fail! Fail until you make it! Fail until you see the beauty behind each failure and train yourself accordingly to become an asset as an actor! Never give up. Because if you give up, you can’t success. That being said, for me, the most important factor behind my success is failure.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Alright, so first of all I am an actor. In fact, I have been acting on TV & Film for over 2 years so far. Although I have little to no experience in theatre, I would like to experience acting on stage too, I am sure I’d absolutely love it. Even though I am still learning my craft and the acting business in general on daily basis – learning never stops at the end of the day – it is my biggest passion and obsession. This obsession with the craft of acting brings me this burning desire. I would say this burning desire of becoming a “GREAT” actor and to be able to become an asset to people industry as an actor is what sets me apart from the most. The most exciting thing about my art to me is expanding my skills and ultimately being able to portray a wide range of characters, like James McAvoy in Split, for example, he portrayed 24 different personalities in just one movie! Which is mind-blowing! I am most proud of being so lucky that I was given a chance to express myself, my art by using every aspect of my body and my mind. I have gotten where I am today as an actor, through my hard work, dedication, persistence, and work ethic. I have been working more than 5 hours a day on my craft even if I am alone. Even when the pandemic halted everything. I believe that there is no substitution for hard work in whatever work you do. It was absolutely not easy at all. However, I was lucky enough to turn my passion and this burning desire to become a great actor in Hollywood, into this obsession. This obsession has always got me where I need to be both physically and mentally. It drives me. It gets me to do the work when I procrastinate, It gets me to do the work when I feel down, unmotivated whatsoever, it gets me to show up no matter what, but most importantly it gives me this power to destroy each and every barrier that I face with along the way. That being said, I have learned a lot of valuable, lifetime lessons regardless of my age. The most important of all is “If I want to be successful, successful people never give, they never quit, they just embrace failure and try again, try better and stronger until they make it”. This idea and this notion have been the #1 lesson I have learned along the way which taught me to be persistent and the fact that failure is actually another opportunity to get better in my craft. I want every one know, about me, who thinks I have just landed where I am right now overnight in a way that I didn’t. I want them to know that some underlying factors about where I am today; there are massive sacrifices, self-discipline, hard work, and at the end of the day. I am hungry, in fact, I am starving for more and more opportunities. I never stop and neither should you.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a tough one for one of the biggest cities in the world, especially. Well, everyone who knows me well enough knows that I am a sportsy person. So, if they visit me they better be ready to be highly active for an entire week! First things first, early in the morning I will take them to Santa Monica Beach to start the day strong by working out on the beach. From there, I would take them to Aroma Cafe in Studio City to have a brunch and discuss upcoming movies and tv shows while dripping their delicious coffee. From there we’re off to hiking, probably climbing to Hollywood Sign as it has the most scenic view over the entire city. After hiking we are probably starving. So we are off to.. Malibu baby! I have some sort of different connection with Malibu for some reason. I will take them to one of my favorite restaurants in the entire city, Broad Street Oyster Co. I will make sure that they taste the most delicious lobster roll in the city. From there, we’re off to watch a brand new movie in Hollywood. After the theatre, I will give them a ride with a convertible on the famous Sunset Blvd. To finish off the night, We will go to EP & LP in West Hollywood to grab a cocktail and enjoy the nightlife of City Of Angels.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Absolutely! In fact, there are so many people I am grateful for. I have changed my occupation entirely to be able to become an actor. Now that’s a huge challenge and every now and then you need some sort of motivation and support from your loved ones. I believe I would not be where I am right now without them. I dedicate my success primarily to my family. I would not become an actor and chase acting as a full-time career if they did not believe in me and support me. I can’t express how grateful I am for my mom and dad for their unconditional support! My twin brother, Mert. My cousin, Berfu. As well I would like to give a HUGE shoutout to my close friends who have always been believed in me and made me get after what I want to achieve in life. When I completely lost my motivation, when I lost my desire to become an actor, they were always there for me, always supporting me. They were always there for me when I mentally hit the bottom. When I was on the edge of giving up. When things went sideways, they helped me to align myself on the right path. I am truly grateful for them, for their efforts, and the trust that they always have in me. They have always been my second family, in a way. I remember one day, I was frustrated and couldn’t take things anymore. I was about to buy a one-way ticket to home, to end the struggle. At that very moment, randomly one of my close friends, Mertcan, called me. He just wanted to check in with me. I am telling him that I am buying a one-way ticket, I am done, I don’t want it anymore. He somehow made me forget every pain, every struggle, every uncertainty that I had at that moment. He convinced me to keep pushing. He told me one thing “Loser quit, winners never give up, never quit! Now, are you a quitter? Or are you a winner?” It has changed everything, it put me back in the right direction and now here I am. Still getting after it, even stronger.

The other person who deserves huge credit and a shoutout in me is Ozgur. He is another close friend to me he is like a brother to me. He is a successful DP in Turkey now. We started in the entertainment business with him together. So he is my day one. I remember every moment we had with him, every up and down. How we pushed each other when we feel we can go no more, when we feel we are done. I would definitely not be here without him.

The final credit goes to a book. A book that has changed me ever since I read it (oh and I read it probably more than 5 times). , “Practicing Power Of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. In a way, this book has allowed me to hack my mind in a better way. This book has been awakening to me. I highly recommend everyone to read this book at least twice.

Website: imdb.me/berkkaraca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berkkaaraca

Image Credits
Ozgur Ergul, Zoey Malania, Stefany Rojo, Marie Langladedemoyen