We were lucky to catch up with Mehmet Edip recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mehmet, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I was never a risk taker, I always played it safe, I didn’t want to rock the boat, but then I realised that playing it safe was ultimately making me seriously unhappy. I had a regular 9-5 job, and was very good at what I did, had nice colleagues, clients that adored me, and a terrible terrible boss, who always wanted me to come in early, work through lunch and stay late.
So other than the terrible boss, I was living a typical 9-5 work life.
But then one day it dawned on me, ‘what am I doing?’, ‘where is my life going?’, ‘Is this it for me?’
I was running myself into the ground for an ungrateful boss with no room for professional growth and with no raise in sight, even though all the aforementioned was promised would happen. I was literally living and pining for the weekends or vacation days
So one winter day I just quit! I had enough and decided I couldn’t continue
I left my cushy job, didn’t have anything else lined up, didn’t plan ahead – which was very unlike me, and quit. It was one of the most satisfying things I have ever done, probably akin to a touchdown or scoring a goal.
I didn’t care about the consequences, as I just wanted to be happy again.
And this was my big , potentially life altering risk.
What now? What should I do? Where do I go? Did I make a mistake? Should I ask for my job back?
While working at this ‘job’ I had dabbled in some modelling, nothing crazy but some extra cash and enough images to build a portfolio. So then I decided, as crazy as it sounds, to pursue this – as a job…
I contacted many many agencies, got accepted and built from there. While doing this I also ‘fell’ into acting and fell in love with it. I’m not sure what I had been doing all my life but this felt right, I was allowed to be free and to be creative, it was fun meeting new people, working on new and exciting sets and being surrounded by so many like minded people.
I felt at home.
And fast forward 10 plus years later and I am still here, I didn’t look back, I didn’t make that grovelling phone call. As scary as it was I continued forward, and as many doubts as I had, I knew that this is what I am meant to do. It brings me immense joy and hopefully joy to others too.
Mehmet, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I kind of just fell into both acting and modelling accidentally and have been in the industry now for over 10 years plus.
It all started when I did my first bodybuilding show while still in my full time job.
I placed second in that show and after the show I got a magazine feature in Muscle & Fitness, and from there I started doing a few more modelling jobs.
After I quit my job and started modelling full time I started doing small acting gigs, too and that’s when I truly fell in love with the freedom of what I was doing.
When you’re self employed you have to be extremely self motivated and self disciplined with your time and you need to have a structured routine.
And I believe my self discipline and routine management comes from my many years of bodybuilding..
My years in the gym have also given me more confidence, so when I get rejected from a role I don’t take it to heart because as an actor you also have to deal with rejection on a daily basis,.
And rejection is just another part of life.
The key is to be able to master your emotions, and to not get too high with the highs and to not get too low when the lows hit.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My mission is to ultimately be happy and content with my life.
But I also want to leave a lasting legacy and to be able to have made a positive impact and made a difference.
I also want to be able to look back when I am retired and have no regrets.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Everyday could be the weekend or everyday could be like a Monday.
As the old saying goes ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
So the amount of effort you put in determines your success
So for me being able to do what I love everyday is reward in itself
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mehmetedip.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/mehmetedip
- IMDb: www.imdb.me/mehmetedip
- TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@mehmet_edip
Image Credits
Main image 1:
Paul Barranco: https://fluidfilms.net
Image 2: John Merrell
Image 3: BTS
Image 4: BTS
Image 5: Muscle Armed
Image 6: Alvin J Kim for Cadogan
Image 7: Alvin J Kim for Cadogan
Image 8: Robert Pix Smith:
https://www.robertpixsmith.com