# Deniz Akdeniz

Deniz Akdeniz (born 16 May 1990) is an Australian actor. He starred in the Australian remake of As the Bell Rings, from 2007 to 2009. In 2010, Akdeniz gained wider recognition for his leading role in Stuart Beattie's feature film adaptation of the novel Tomorrow, When the War Began. He then starred in the fantasy horror I, Frankenstein and drama film The Water Diviner (both 2014), before portraying Aladdin in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time (2016–2017).
Akdeniz has since appeared in various critically acclaimed film and television projects, including the television series The Flight Attendant (2020–2022) and High Potential (2024–present), and the 2023 independent films You Hurt My Feelings and Dumb Money.

## Early life

Akdeniz is of Turkish descent. His parents hail from Izmir, Turkey and when the family emigrated to Australia, they enrolled his brother (who is seven years older) in drama classes to help him integrate socially. Akdeniz followed his brother's lead and began performing at the age of eight. He honed his performance skills at The Australian Film and Television Academy (TAFTA), NIDA, St Martins Youth Theatre, and with Bruce Alexander at Melbourne Acting Studio. He made his professional debut in a 2007 production of Angels with Dirty Faces.
Prior to acting, Akdeniz trained and competed professionally in Mixed martial arts (MMA). He is a Victorian Jiujitsu champion.

## Career

Akdeniz's first role was in the Australian film Puppy in 2005. He followed this with a regular role as Raff on the Disney television series As the Bell Rings from 2007 to 2009.
He was nominated for Best Actor at the 2010 Inside Film Awards, for his breakthrough role as Homer in the Australian box office hit Tomorrow, When the War Began.
In 2014, Akdeniz appeared in I, Frankenstein (with Aaron Eckhardt, Bill Nighy and Miranda Otto), and The Water Diviner (opposite Russell Crowe).
He played a recurring role as Aladdin in season six of the ABC television series Once Upon a Time from 2016 to 2017, and as Robb Wellens on season three of Siren in 2020.
Beginning in 2022, Akdeniz played Max in seasons 1 and 2 of the HBO Max comedic thriller The Flight Attendant (alongside Kaley Cuoco and Zosia Mamet).
He appeared in 2022 Australian-American co-production Interceptor, and in 2023 films You Hurt My Feelings (opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Dumb Money (alongside an all-star cast).
He currently plays Lev 'Oz' Osman on television series High Potential.

## Personal life

Akdeniz is engaged to long term partner, American actress Riley Dandy.
He is now based in Los Angeles, but is still coached via Skype by Bruce Alexander, who now operates his studio in London.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Puppy | Omar | Feature film |
| 2010 | Tomorrow, When the War Began | Homer Yannos | Feature film |
| 2013 | April Rain | Tariq | |
| 2014 | I, Frankenstein | Barachel | Feature film |
| 2014 | The Water Diviner | Imam | Feature film |
| 2020 | Sightless | Nurse Omar | Feature film |
| 2023 | You Hurt My Feelings | Vince | Feature film |
| 2023 | Dumb Money | Briggsy | Feature film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007–2009 | As the Bell Rings | Raff | Main cast, 27 episodes |
| 2007 | Pass the Plate | Himself | Short series, episode: "Banana" |
| 2008 | Disney Channel Games | Himself (Team Inferno) | Short series, 5 episodes |
| 2013 | Kristin's Christmas Past | Maverick | TV movie |
| 2014 | Graceland | Wayne 'Bates' Zelanski | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Perception | Jesse Branson | Episode: "Romeo" |
| 2015 | Jessie | Marco | Episode: "Rossed at Sea, Part 2" |
| 2016 | Code Black | Manny Petrosian | Episode: "The Fifth Stage" |
| 2016–2017 | Once Upon a Time | Aladdin | Recurring role, 7 episodes |
| 2017 | Jane the Virgin | Alex | |
| 2017 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Virgil | Episode: "Orientation: Part 1" |
| 2019 | S.W.A.T. | Micah | Episode: "Micah" |
| 2019 | For All Mankind | Paul Santoro | Episode: "Red Moon" |
| 2020 | Siren | Robb Wellens | Recurring role |
| 2020–2022 | The Flight Attendant | Max Park | Recurring role (season 1) Main role (season 2) |
| 2022 | The Cleaning Lady | Tarik Bersamian | 2 episodes |
| 2022–2023 | The Rookie: Feds | Mark Atlas | 3 episodes |
| 2024-current | Ghosts | Chris | 4 episodes: "The Polterguest", "Isaac's Wedding", “The Bachelorette Party” & "St Hetty's Day" |
| 2024–current | High Potential | Lev 'Oz' Osman | Main role |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | Angels with Dirty Faces | | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with 9Minds |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2016 | Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare | PO1 Dan "Wolf" Lyall | Campaign Mission: "Rising Threat" |
| 2016 | Battlefield 1 | Matteo Cocchiola | Model |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
| 2010 | Tomorrow When the War Began | Inside Film Awards | Best Actor | Nominated |