Magnificent Century's Hürrem, Meryem Uzerli returns to Turkey for new project

Meryem Uzerli, better known as Hürrem Sultan in the popular Turkish TV series “The Magnificent Century” (Muhteşem Yüzyıl) has returned to Turkey, after signing a contract with O3, the Turkish production company of the biggest TV channel of the Arab world, MBC.

Rather than organizing a signing ceremony for the contract in Dubai, Uzerli recently came together with a small group of press members during a dinner at Les Ottomans hotel in Istanbul. The top executive of MBC, Fadi İsmail, the Turkish partners of O3 Production, Saner Ayar and Onur Güvenatam, were also present at the dinner.

A break of one-and-a-half years has been very good for Meryem. As always, I found her warm, positive and energetic. There was no trace of her being burned out or exhausted; she has renewed and recharged herself to return to Turkey and TV dramas.

Meryem is still living in Berlin, but is planning to move to Istanbul at the end of January. She lived in a hotel room for two years during the shooting of “The Magnificent Century.” This time, her biggest request was a house with a garden for her daughter, Lara. She is still searching for a house in a few neighborhoods, where she will live with her daughter and babysitter.

I have previously written about the theme of Meryem’s new TV series: A modern and chic love story with Istanbul in the background. The shooting is set to start at the end of February and it will be aired at the end of March.

At the end of the night at Les Ottomans, she showed me the photos of Lara on her cell phone. She is 10-months-old - a miniature version of Meryem, with deep blue eyes and yellow hair. “I wouldn’t let her act in a commercial film even if I’m offered 100 million euros. My only purpose in...