A few years ago Timur Ülker was at the turning point of his life. Then fate helped the actor. In the “GZSZ” spin-off “Nihat – Everything at the Beginning”, he returns to places of his difficult youth.
Berlin – Actor Timur Ülker could hardly believe it when the makers of the RTL series “Gute Zeiten, Bad Zeiten” surprised him after a day of shooting with an announcement: “Timur, we would like to produce a spin-off about your role Nihat.” That was in December last year.
The main role in the RTL miniseries “Nihat – Alles auf Anfang” – to be seen this week on Wednesday and Thursday from 7.40 pm – is the current highlight of an eventful journey. The 32-year-old tells about this in his book “Shadow boxing – why giving up is not an option: My path from Hartz IV to a TV star”.
Accordingly, Ülker had to take blows early on: his father left the family, his sister died of the consequences of a heart defect. He gets on the wrong track in a problem district in Hamburg, flies from school and fails his exam in training to become an IT systems clerk. “I felt like a failure,” said the 32-year-old in an interview with the German press agency.
With the help of his mother, Ülker regains a foothold in life and has a daughter with his partner Caro (Ülker: “Without her, I would not have made it all”). Then he got a role in the RTLzwei series “Cologne 50667” – and became famous on TV. “Suddenly a lot of people knew me, I was ensnared by girls, that does something to you,” remembers Ülker. He neglects his family, goes to parties, overslepts shoots. The consequence: First Caro moves out, then the production asks him for an interview. Back then the surprise was of a different nature: he was thrown out. “At that moment I woke up and knew: Timur, it can’t go on like this.”
Ülker has debts, is unemployed, lives on Hartz IV – and decides to take part in the TV nude dome show “Adam sucht Eva”. Despite girlfriend. Ülker and his wife get together again afterwards – but because of the show participation, there are rejections.
Then, for once, fate helps him – and an old hobby. The ZDF wanted program “Aktenzeichen XY … unselöst” is looking for an actor who can box. During the shoot, the former hobby boxer meets the wife of an agent. She is enthusiastic and recommends him at home. The way back to television – to “GZSZ”.
Ülker has played the role of Nihat since 2018. In the spin-off, for which no “GZSZ” prior knowledge is necessary, he is looking for his biological parents and working through his difficult childhood – in Hamburg, where Ülker also grew up. So there is also some Timur in Nihat. According to Ülker, there is a big difference between him and his role, as he laughingly reveals: “Nihat is much more intelligent than Timur.” Dpa
