Ali Ersan Duru was born in Ankara on September 19, 1984. His father is in the tourism business, and his mother is a housewife. He is the youngest of his four brothers and therefore was the most beloved and spoilt child in the family. However, this didn’t stop him from doing well at school. He also loved to participate in performances at school when he was in his teens.

Duru started to pursue a career in acting at the age of 18. He is a graduate of Eskişehir Osmangazi University with a degree in financial studies. At the same time he started his acting career as an amateur stage actor. He first worked at the Osmangazi University Theatre Community. In 2008, he started getting acting lessons at Diyalog Sanat. He subsequently joined the Şahika Tekand Studio and was educated in theatrical studies for three years.

Duru made his television debut with a role in TRT 1 sitcom Başrolde Aşk in 2010. In 2012, he was cast in an adaptation of Turgut Özakman’s novel Diriliş. In this movie, titled Çanakkale 1915, he portrayed the character Mehmed Ali. In 2013, he had a leading role in the series Yağmurdan Kaçarken alongside Carlos Martin, Ezgi Asaroğlu, Ayça Erturan, and Furkan Andıç. In the same year, Duru joined the cast of Bugünün Saraylısı, sharing the lead role with Selçuk Yöntem, Nazan Kesal, Serhat Teoman and Cansu Tosun. He continued to appear in a number of TV series. In 2019, he was cast in a recurring role in the drama series Sen Anlat Karadeniz.

He also played the main role of a TV show that was made to strengthen Turkish-Russian ties, Kalbimin Sultanı, which received a record number of views from both countries. In the show, his co-star was the Russian actress Alexandra Nikiforova. The series was filmed in 2018.