Trivia / Magnificent Century

• Character Outlives Actor: Tuncel Kurtiz, the actor playing Ebussuud Efendi, died in 2013. Since Ebusuud was Sultan Suleyman's confidant, the character was only mentioned through letters.
• Creator Breakdown: The first and better known actress for Hurrem, Meryem Uzerli, suffered one of these and left the series. The exact reasons behind it have been speculated on a lot: monetary issues, bad health, burnout, a mix of all of the above, etc.
• Dawson Casting: The kids' actors change rapidly, and soon catch up on their mothers, the point that Mehmet Günsür (born 1975) plays the son of Nur Fettahoğlu (born 1980).
• Died During Production: The screenwriter Meral Okay, who died of lung cancer in 2012.
• Fake Nationality: Somewhat excusable considering this is a local turkish production.
  • Ayşe Hafsa in the show is a crimean tatar princess; while Nebahat Çehre does have some non-turkish ancestry, it's not a tartar one.
  • Whether is Hürrem in the show Polish, Ukrainian, Russian or Rusyn, Vahide Perçin and Meryem Uzerli aren't either of these. Uzerli is half-turkish, half-german, while Perçin is full turkish.
  • Merve Bolugur, Almeda Abazi and Yasemin Allen all play characters from Venice; neither of them are of course Italian. Merve Bolugur is Turkish, Almeda Abazi Albanian and Yasemin Allen is half-british, half-turkish.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Vahide Perçin takes over Hurrem's role from Meryem Uzerli since the end of season 3.
  • Characters who enter the series as children and age during its course are, of course, recast, often multiple times.
  • Rümeysa was also recast between seasons 3 and 4, from Elif Atakan to Büşra Ayaydin.
• Playing Against Type: Apparently a thing in case of Ozan Güven, the actor playing Rüstem Pasha, who is mostly known in Turkey as a comedy star.
• Playing Their Own Twin: Okan Yalabık plays İbrahim and İbrahim's twin brother Niko.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Bergüzar Korel, Halit Ergenc's wife, portrays One-Shot Character Monica Gritti.
  • Alize Gördüm, who interprets Nergissah Sultan, is Vahide Percin's daughter.
  • A very bizzare example are Kaya, Sevda and Sarp Akkaya. Sevda had a bit part in season 3 as the prostitute punished by Lütfi pasha. Kaya (Lokman aga, Süleyman's chamberlain) and Sarp (Atmaca) are twins, but most people wouldn't know this, because they look nothing alike - and their characters barely interact.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: A very odd case are Süleyman's children. Pelin Karahan and Gürbey Ileri could pass for siblings, but look nothing like their other brothers in the show. Engin Öztürk (Selim) and Aras Bulut Iynemli (Bayezit) look similar enough, but then Aras and Tolga Saritaş (Cihangir) are even more alike. Lastly, Mehmet Günsür (Mustafa) is supposedly their half-brother, but doesn't resemble either of them close enough... But he could pass for Okan Yalabik's son.
• Throw It In!: The distinctive way Sümbül walks was invented by Selim Bayraktar—the actor playing him—as a way of showing that having his family jewels cut off and boiling oil poured on the wounds hurts even after many years. Same goes for his rants in Ottoman-era Turkish: he was taught this language by his grandfather.

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