Özge Özpirinçci

How did your academic development and personal improvement at Sabancı University translate to your outside life in terms of the ability to dream, being open to change, cou-rage and principles?

My job requires that I am able to dream, embrace change, and have courage. I was this kind of person before I entered Sabancı University. In fact, this was one of the reasons I chose this university.

Did you take part in any student clubs at Sabancı University? If you did, what did you gain?

I did not take active part in student clubs. I was attracted to the theatre club at one time, and the equestrian club. But then I realized I wasn’t the type to commit to something. I spent most of my non-school hours outside.

When you graduated from Sabancı University and were just starting your acting career, what were your dreams?

I had started to appear in commercials before graduation. As I was preparing for my final exams, I was playing in the Cesaretin Var mı Aşka mini-series already. I have always had acting on my mind. I’ve never dreamed about when and how I would succeed, but I always knew that I would make it.

Are you planning to pursue an acting career abroad thanks to the foreign language edu-cation and multicultural environment of Sabancı University?

One of the many things I gained at Sabancı was the foreign languages I learned. I took 4 courses in Japanese and 2 in Spanish. I want to continue developing my Spanish; after all, Spain does have a strong movie industry.

From what we have seen, it seems your older brother was the first to discover your acting prowess. How did this all happen?

Those were little games that we played to amuse ourselves at home… Or that’s what I thought – it turned out that my brother was quite serious! He was 14 and I was 7; he was toting a huge Handycam (the smaller ones were not available back then), and I was covered in makeup for bruises and ketchup for blood. We would act out his plot with improvised dialo-gue. It is possible that he taught me how to let myself loose without me knowing it.

Did you receive any acting training? Are you planning to go for acting in plays?

I could not receive any training for lack of time. But this is certainly a future plan. Right now, I barely have time for anything once shooting is over. I found a few good schools, but first I have to make some time. I would like to go onstage, but I do have to say that I was always partial to cinema. I wasn’t a theatre fan when I was a child, either. I was more hooked on VHS tapes! We had about 450 tapes at home, and I have probably seen all of them twice.

What are your priorities in life, and what step do you want to take in which direction?

I’m not much into planning my life. The only things I plan are my vacations abroad. Perhaps that’s why I’m doing this job. I’m working with a person with whom I can plan my career, and it’s really comforting to know that I can trust life decisions with someone else.

What do you think of Civic Involvement Projects? Do you have sensitivities in any specific area?

My soft spot is animals. If PETA were to become active in Turkey, I would love to take part in their initiatives. I believe all artists in Turkey should take part in such projects. As a person under the spotlights, it’s much easier to make your voice heard. You have a great tool to draw attention to the people in need, who are most often overlooked, and you have to use this to the best of your abilities. I don’t think I’m doing anything significant for the time being, but when the time comes, I will make the best of this power I have.