Deniz Akdeniz (born 16 May 1990) is an Australian actor. He starred in the Australian remake of ''As the Bell Rings'', from 2007 to 2009. In 2010, Akdeniz gained wider recognition for his leading role in

Stuart Beattie Stuart Beattie (born 4 August 1971) is an Australian filmmaker. His screenplay for '' Collateral'' (2004) earned him nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay and Saturn Award for ...

's feature film adaptation of the novel '' Tomorrow, When the War Began''. He then starred in the fantasy horror ''

I, Frankenstein ''I, Frankenstein'' is a 2014 American science fantasy action film written and directed by Stuart Beattie, based on the digital-only graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the fi ...

'' and drama film ''

The Water Diviner ''The Water Diviner'' is a 2014 drama film starring and directed by Russell Crowe, in his directorial debut, and written by Andrew Anastasios and Andrew Knight. The film follows an Australian farmer, Joshua Connor (Crowe), who travels to Turkey ...

'' (both 2014), before portraying

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

fantasy series ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' (20162017). Akdeniz has since appeared in various film and television projects, including the television series ''

The Flight Attendant ''The Flight Attendant'' is an American dark comedy drama mystery thriller television series developed by Steve Yockey based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Chris Bohjalian. It stars Kaley Cuoco in the title role and premiered on HBO ...

'' (20202022) and ''

High Potential ''High Potential'' is an American crime drama television series created by Drew Goddard for ABC. It is based on the 2021 French and Belgian television series '' HPI''. The series stars Kaitlin Olson as Morgan Gillory, an intellectually gifted c ...

'' (2024present), and the 2023

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

s '' You Hurt My Feelings'' and ''

Dumb Money ''Dumb Money'' is a 2023 American biographical comedy-drama film, directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo. It is based on the 2021 book '' The Antisocial Network'' by Ben Mezrich and chronicles the Game ...

''.

Early life

Akdeniz is of Turkish descent. His parents hail from Izmir, Turkey and when the family emigrated to Australia, they enrolled his older brother in drama classes to help him integrate socially. Akdeniz followed his brother's lead and began performing at the age of eight. He developed his performance skills at The Australian Film and Television Academy (TAFTA), NIDA, St Martins Youth Theatre, and with Bruce Alexander at Melbourne Acting Studio. He made his professional debut in a 2007 production of ''Angels with Dirty Faces''. He was discovered while he was with the Victorian Youth Theatre. Prior to acting, Akdeniz trained and competed professionally in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

. He is a Victorian

Jiujitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

champion.

Career

Akdeniz's first role was in the Australian film ''

Puppy A puppy is a Juvenile (organism), juvenile dog, generally one less than 12-18 months old. Puppies are markedly underdeveloped and dependent on their mothers at birth (displaying ''altriciality''), but healthy puppies grow quickly and begi ...

'' in 2005. He followed this with a role as Raff on the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

television series ''

As the Bell Rings ''As the Bell Rings'' is a Disney Channel short franchise, based on the original Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney ...

'' from 2007 to 2009. He was nominated for Best Actor at the 2010

Inside Film Awards The IF Awards, formerly known as the Inside Film Awards, Lexus Inside Film Awards, Kodak IF Awards, and Jameson IF Awards, was an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry. Its name derives from its origins at ...

for his role as Homer in the film '' Tomorrow, When the War Began''. In 2014 Akdeniz appeared in ''

'', and ''

''. He played a recurring role as

in season six of the

television series ''

'' from 2016 to 2017, and as Robb Wellens on season three of ''

Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Sir ...

'' in 2020. Beginning in 2022 Akdeniz played Max in seasons 1 and 2 of the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

comedic thriller ''

''. He appeared in 2022 Australian–American co-production ''

Interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...

'', and in 2023 films '' You Hurt My Feelings'' and ''

''. He currently plays Lev 'Oz' Ozdil on television series ''

''.

Personal life

Akdeniz is engaged to long term partner, American actress Riley Dandy. He is now based in Los Angeles, but is still coached via

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

by Bruce Alexander, who now operates his studio in London.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akdeniz, Deniz Australian male film actors Australian people of Turkish descent 21st-century Australian male actors Living people Male actors from Melbourne Year of birth missing (living people)