Trivia / Magnificent Century: Kösem

• Cast Incest: This technically happened when Taner Ölmez (sultan Osman II.) and Ece Çeşmioglu (Atike Sultan) married. They never appeared together on screen, since in season 1, when Osman was in the show, Atike was just a little girl, but nonetheless, Atike is Osman's half-sister...
• Dawson Casting: To mitigate the absolute Values Dissonance nightmare that is Ahmed I and Osman II becoming rulers and fathers as middleschoolers, showrunners cast 23-year old Ekin Koç as 13-year old Ahmet and 30-year old (who could pass for 20-year old) Taner Ölmez as 14-year old Osman II.
  • A minor case which nonetheless breaks the suspension of belief somewhat is Metin Akdülger (age 28) as sultan Murad IV. Audience might be baffled by his proclamations that he is not a child anymore and that his mother's regency is over. Well, obviously; he's a grown man in his early twenties who ever has two children, how can anyone doubt his maturity? Then you learn that historical Murad was 18 at the time.
  • Then there is his younger brother Ibrahim, 15 at the time, played by a (younger-looking, but still) 30-year old. And his 16-year old brother Kasim, played by a 24-old actor. And Murad's half-brother Bayezit, born the same year as him, played by an actor who is 5 months older than Metin Akdülger.
  • Turhan, Saliha, Muazzez and Hümasah Sultan were historically teenagers when they married Ibrahim. They are played by actresses in their 30s(though some of them could pass as women in their 20s)
  • Asli Tandogan(Gevherhan Sultan) is only 3 years younger than Nürgül Yesilcay(Kösem)
• Fake Nationality: Anastasia/Kösem is an odd case. At first, she is played by very Greek Anastasia Tsilimpiou, only to then be recast Beren Saat and later Nurgül Yeşilçay, who are turkish.
  • Yasemin hatun, Kösem's sister is played by another fully turkish actress (raised in Germany) Gizem Emre.
  • Rasha/Mahfiruze is said to be circassian and Mahfiruz greek. Both are played by turkish actresses.
  • Then there is Esther hatun. Presumably, she was supposed to be an ottoman Jew, many of whom were of spanish or portugese origin. Whatever the case, she probably isn't meant to have any ties to Croatia. Alma Terzić accent disagrees.
  • Farya is, presumably, half-hungarian, half-german. Farah Zeynep Abdullah, on the other hand, has complicated roots - Macedonian, Crimean Turkish and Bosnian from her mother's side, and Iraqi Turkmen from father's.
• The Other Darrin: Many characters appear as both children as adults, which means they are of course recast. But also:
  • Kösem is the most prominent one. At first, she is played by Anastasia Tsilimpiou; then, in one of the series' most unintentionally hilarious scenes she is recast with Beren Saat. Lastly, there's Nurgül Yeşilçay, who plays her as a middle-aged and older woman in season 4.
  • Many people might've missed this, but Davud pasha appeared in the earlier episodes as Iskender's mean classmate. He was, of course, recast in the tail end of the series.
  • Gülbahar sultan was also recast between seasons. She went from relatively minor character played by Ayça Kuru, into a major antagonist played by Sibel Taşçioglu.
  • Apart from standard child and adult actors, Murad is also played as a teenager by yet another performer.
  • Mustafa I appears as a minor character in season 2, and of course is now played by another, older actor.
  • The most baffling is probably Sultan Ibrahim. The first actor playing him is 30-year old (much like Osman passing for 20-year old) Ridvan Aybars Düzey - already pretty close to the age historical Ibrahim died. But then, shortly after his ascencion, a timeskip somehow necessitates his recasting by Tugay Mercan, who is 34 and looks even older.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: Like in the original, this varies with Ahmet’s children. Mehmet(Burak Dakak), Ayse(Sude Zulal Guner) and Fatma(Balim Gayebayrak) could well pass as siblings. Later on Gevherhan(Asli Tandogan) and Atike(Ece Cesmioglu) look rather similar. Bayezid and Sehzade Ibrahim look quite similar, but when Ibrahim becomes Sultan he looks a lot more like Murad(Metin Akdulger). Most of them look like Ahmet(Ekin Koc), but their hair and skin is too light for Kosem(Beren Saat/Nurgul Yesilcay) to be their mother. And then Kasim could pass as Kosem’s son, but doesn’t look much like the other kids.