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About Me
I was born in Detroit, MI on February 2, 1977, that's Groundhog Day. My father, Ural Tumer, worked on the line at Ford, and my mother, Serpil Gurocak, a clothing designer, both Turkish, and I lived in West Bloomfield. We were joined by my sister Begum on June 22, 1979.
We moved to Istanbul, Turkey in 1982 and stayed there until 1986. During that time I attended kindergarten through third grade. These are very informative years when it comes to understanding my passion and interest for culture. Turkey is a place rich in history and culture. As I opened my eyes to the world and our place in it, I began to wonder what my place in this world was going to be. I would figure it pretty early on. During my time in kindergarten, I started to perform. I took part in the little plays, skits, and folklore performances. I have to admit the reason I got started was so that I could skip out on nap time and be where the girls were. I figured some things out pretty early.
On August 1, 1986 the family packed up and moved to Marblehead, MA. Marblehead is a small, wealthy, historic, sailing town north of Boston. We moved here because my mother's sister was living here with her family. Marblehead is a beautiful place to grow up with an incredibly close and supportive community. The reason for the move was so that my mother could open a boutique, which she did, and my aunt lived here as well. This ended up being a good thing because I got to spend a lot of time with my cousin Sedef. She was involved in theater in college and was an early inspiration for me. We lived in a three story house, the bottom floor of which was Begum's Boutique. I went right into fourth grade at Bell School and things were not easy. I was a new kid from Turkey, who didn't speak perfect english, didn't dress just right, and didn't exactly fit the Marblehead kid mold. So I got in my share of fights, and played the part of the awkward kid who didn't really fit in and I am I glad of it now. I am an incredibly independant, secure, strong, passionate and friendly person because of these times. I learned to be a unique, original person who wanted acceptance for who he was. I figured out that people were going to have to get to know me before I got accepted in any circle.
How was I going to get people's attention? I tried sports, lots of them. I played a number of sports all through grammer, school, middle school and high school. Soccer, football, track, wrestling, swimming and diving, baseball, basketball, you name it I did it. I didn' t really excel at any, pretty good at soccer and football, I was never really known as a jock. I rediscovered the art of performance and it was better than I remembered. In sixth grade I auditioned for the musical, Cinderella meets the Wolfman, and got cast as Igor the Court Jester. I was a funny bastard and I stole the show. This was the begining of the rest of my life. I acted in countless productions both in school productions and with the community theater group. At Marblehead High I was part of the Drama Club, which I presided over my senior year and was also the president of the International Thespian Society. Both musicals and dramas took over my life. In my search for acceptance I found my niche in the world. I knew early on that I wanted to become an actor and to tell the stories of our worlds cultures.
After I graduated from MHS, I attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. At this time I also discovered my love for New York City. I studied acting at The Atlantic Theatre Company School of Acting, under the tutelage of David Mamet and William H. Macy. I worked hard to be a good student because I loved what I went to class for everyday. After two years i was no longer able finacially support myself in NYC, so I transfered to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. I finished my schooling there and received my BA in Theatre in 1999.
I was lucky enough to get cast during my senior year with a touring Shakespeare company called Shenandoah Shakespeare Express. I did two tours with the SSE for a total of eighteen months. When I decided that I had had enough of being on the road, I moved back to NYC. I am still here, living in Astoria, Queens. I currently wait tables at a restaurant in midtown called Brasserie and am still doing a lot of acting.