Tamer Hassan has admitted he was changed forever after witnessing the devastating carnage of the Turkey earthquake in 2023.
In February of that year a a series of earthquakes killed around 55,000 people in Turkey and Syria, the worst earthquakes the region has seen in 20 years.
And after hearing the news, the British gangster movie star, 56, headed to the country to help victims of the devastating earthquakes.
Discussing the tragic even in an interview with Loaded, The Football Factory star urged people to seize every moment as he discussed how the earthquake ‘truly changed’ him.
Tamer explained: ‘I’m at a stage in my life where I’ve had all the cars and houses and I’m very humbled.
‘I went to Turkey to help during the earthquake and ended up staying for five months. What I witnessed, the smell of death, the misery, the heartache, that truly changed me.’
Tamer Hassan has said devastating carnage he witnessed after the Turkey earthquake changed him forever as he urges fans to ‘seize every moment’
In February 2023, a series of earthquakes killed around 55,000 people in Turkey and Syria, the worst earthquakes the region has seen in 20 years
He added: ‘When you experience that, there’s something inside you that makes you go, “I don’t give a f*** for any of those material things.”
‘So if I can help somebody screen a movie or have a nice bit of dinner or a roof over their head, that’s what it’s all about.’
Urging people to seize every moment, he continued: ‘Every breath you take could be the last one. I’m of the belief that this roof could fall down on top of me right now.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Tamer revealed how he is getting into shape in more ways than one as he prepares to play Ibiza legend Tony Pike in a new movie.
‘We plan to start shooting at the end of Feb, which means I’ve got an intense weight loss regime ahead of me, which I’m not looking forward to’ he explained.
‘It was one of Tony’s last wishes in life that I’d play him on the big screen, and I want to do him justice.’
He added: ‘You need to practise being as hardcore as Tony in every respect. I gave him his last ever interview, and we spoke about the movie two years ago.’
‘I was like, “Those boots are really big for anyone to fill.” Irvine Welsh is doing a polish on the script just now and then we’ll start a 12-week shoot.’
He said: ‘I went to Turkey to help during the earthquake and ended up staying for five months. What I witnessed, the smell of death, the misery, the heartache, that truly changed me’
Urging people to seize every moment as life is short, he continued: ‘Every breath you take could be the last one. I’m of the belief that this roof could fall down on top of me right now’
Famed for its slogan, ‘You can check in, but you can never check out,’ Pikes Hotel set the standard for the hedonistic Ibizan lifestyle that to this day is unrivalled by any destination on the planet.
‘The man (Tony Pike) created Ibiza,’ says Tamer. ‘Even Hugh Hefner used to say Tony Pike was the original Playboy.’
Tamer also admitted that this will be his most challenging role yet as ‘no one can play Tony like Tony’.
He said: ‘The movie is a huge challenge for me, because the truth is, no one can play Tony like Tony. There is only one Tony Pike.’
‘I have a lot of fond memories of him. In the early days, everybody would go to Pike’s and experience something unique from Tony.’
‘I started drinking quite late because I was boxing in my 20s, but I played catch up really quick. I don’t really remember 30 to 40.’
Now a fellow hotelier, Tamer recently bought into London’s Karma Sanctum Soho Hotel alongside his pal Mark Fuller and Paul Oakenfold is also a partner.
‘When the hotel first opened, everyone was there,’ he says. ‘It was just a cool spot to be. I had five years of just crazy nights in the Sanctum, but I blanked them out of my head.’
‘I’m very good at just blanking things out. I think, “I’m done with this place.” Fast forward ten years and I decided to invest in it.’
‘I was like, “How the f*** did this happen? But I’m in now and I’ve been there six months and totally spun it around.’
Elsewhere during the interview, Tamer revealed how he is getting into shape in more ways than one as he prepares to play Ibiza legend Tony Pike (pictured 2015) in a new movie
He said: ‘We plan to start shooting at the end of Feb, which means I’ve got an intense weight loss regime ahead of me, which I’m not looking forward to’ (pictured last year)
The A-list celebrity hotel boss – who was dubbed as the Hugh Hefner of Ibiza – died at the age of 84 in February 2019 following a battle with cancer (pictured with Freddie Mercury)
Discussing his upcoming plans for the hotel, Tamer added: ‘We’ve got a film festival planned and people are holding events. The rooms are full. Sometimes it’s so busy that I can’t get a room and I haven’t got a seat to sit on.’
It comes after Tamer fought back tears as he revealed members of his family were lost in the rubble of the earthquakes.
Tamer, a close friend of Danny Dyer and Ray Winstone whose daughter Belle is a former Love Island star, led a campaign to raise £100,000 to help with the humanitarian crisis.
The star tried not to cry as he told Sky News: ‘We have family missing. Due to the cold weather, we’re not hopeful… we’re quite worried. I have no words. We’re all devastated. We have family that are lost. I’ll be heading to Turkey, we’re trying to find a route into the worst affected areas.’
Tamer was born in New Cross, south-east London, but considers Turkey to be his ‘mother country’.
He used his profile to raise money online ‘to help those in need’ and travelled to the crisis-hit region from Cyprus, where he was staying at the time.
The boxer-turned-actor hit the big time in his thirties when he starred in The Football Factory with Danny, then Layer Cake with Daniel Craig and also appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. His TV work includes NCIS and Game of Thrones.
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