How did Deniz Can Aktaş prepare for Haydar Ali in Yeraltı, and why did he choose the role after Hudutsuz Sevda?

15 September 2026 — In an interview published in "Daha Daha NOW", the section where the network NOW gathers its series content, Deniz Can Aktaş talked about Haydar Ali, his character in Yeraltı (Underground). The page carries no publication date; the network's series page announces the new season as "coming soon" in the same days, so the interview belongs to the run-up to season two. Aktaş explains why he took this role after Halil İbrahim Karasu, whom he played in Hudutsuz Sevda from 2023 to 2025: "This challenge feeds my creative process... Fighting this pressure, in a sense, suits me." He calls the role that follows a long-running, widely watched character "the most challenging part of the job" and says that is exactly why he chose it. As the network's own publication, the interview is the primary source of this file; quotations are limited to the wording on the page.

Who is Haydar Ali, and what is the series about?

According to NOW's official series page and Wikipedia, Haydar Ali Aslan is a man who kills his family's murderer, goes to prison and finds himself in the middle of one of Türkiye's most dangerous underground organisations. When he regains his freedom three years later, he learns that the woman he could never forget is now the wife of the man closest to him, and the real reckoning begins there. Uraz Kaygılaroğlu plays Bozkurt Hanoğlu and Devrim Özkan plays Halide Ceylan; the cast also includes Sümeyye Aydoğan (Sultan Hanoğlu) and Mehmet Yılmaz Ak (Yılmaz Doğan). In the interview Aktaş does not describe the character in detail; he says the story carries several emotions, love, revenge and friendship among them, and offers multi-dimensional characters. This site's Yeraltı page runs in Turkish, English (Underground), Arabic (في الظل) and Russian (Под землёй).

How did the preparation go?

Aktaş's clearest sentence concerns preparation: "My preparation was painful... Separating the two, Halil İbrahim and this one, and trying to discover what makes Haydar Ali different was my first step." He acknowledges the risk of a character played for two years bleeding into the new one and says he deliberately kept the two roles apart. The second step was coaching: "Afterwards I did detailed work with my coach." The third was the set: he says director Murat Öztürk "helped me a lot". This three-stage account lays out a working method with a candour that is not common in Turkish series actors' interviews; who the coach is and what the work consisted of are not in the interview.

Partners and the set

Asked whether he had worked with Uraz Kaygılaroğlu and Devrim Özkan before, Aktaş is clear: "No, we are working together for the first time... Both are actors who enjoy playing off each other and like to open up space for their partner." There is one familiar name in the cast: according to Onedio on 21 October 2025, Burak Sevinç, who also appeared in Hudutsuz Sevda, joined Yeraltı; because sources differ on the name of his role, this page does not give it. The series is produced by Fatih Aksoy for Medyapım, written by Berna Aruz, with music by Sertaç Özgümüş.

Who is Deniz Can Aktaş?

According to Wikipedia he was born in Istanbul on 28 July 1993, his family comes from İnebolu in Kastamonu, and he graduated in marine engineering from Piri Reis University. He began acting in 2015 with the Star TV series Tatlı Küçük Yalancılar; he played Burak Erkin in Hayat Bazen Tatlıdır (2016–2017), Yusuf Eren in Aşk Ağlatır (2019) and Barış Havas in Menajerimi Ara, and was in the cast of Avlu (The Yard). In cinema he played Umut in Bandırma Füze Kulübü (2022). A wide audience knows him as Halil İbrahim Karasu in Hudutsuz Sevda (2023–2025); in 2024 that role earned him Golden Butterfly nominations for best actor and, with Miray Daner, best TV couple. His answer to the interview's question about ten years in the profession is short: "Every new character is a milestone." This site has pages for Hudutsuz Sevda, Menajerimi Ara, Avlu, Tatlı Küçük Yalancılar and Hayat Bazen Tatlıdır.

Theatre and the beard

The interview asks about his theatre experience; Aktaş calls it "an unforgettable experience" and a "roller coaster ride" without naming the play. According to Wikipedia, he has played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the DasDas stage since 2021; since the interview and that fact do not come from the same source, they are given separately. His answer on Haydar Ali's beard is equally brief: "The beard is not something that affects how I feel"; what matters, he says, is what the character needs. Asked how he judges his own performance, he says he waits for the moments when he can say "I did the best I could".

Where does Yeraltı stand?

The series premiered on NOW on Wednesday evening, 28 January 2026; according to Wikipedia it aired in the Wednesday 20:00 slot and the first season was completed with 16 episodes. This site's TMDB-based episode list gives the last episode as 20 May 2026. Wikipedia notes that the series was sold to Russia through the ivi platform, which also explains why this site's Russian page (Под землёй) draws traffic. By monthly Turkish search volume, Yeraltı is one of the most searched 2026 titles in this archive. For season two, NOW's series page says "Coming soon – New season"; TMDB's schedule as of 15 September 2026 lists the first episode of season two for Wednesday 7 October 2026. That is a TMDB entry, not an official announcement by NOW; this page will be updated when the network confirms a date.

Known and unknown

As of 15 September 2026, known: Deniz Can Aktaş chose Haydar Ali for its difficulty, prepared in three stages with a coach and the director, is working with Kaygılaroğlu and Özkan for the first time, the first season ended with 16 episodes and a second has been announced. Unknown: the interview's publication date, the season two start date, the identity of the coach and the content of the work, and whether new cast members are joining. This page relies only on NOW's own publication and public sources, and will be updated when the season two date is announced.