Age: 44
male
Engin Akyürek (born 12 October 1981) is a Turkish actor, screenwriter and author. Akyürek began his acting career in the year 2004. Having starred in many acclaimed series and movies, Akyürek is considered as one of Turkey's most successful and highest paid actors. Akyürek received no official schooling for acting, stage or screen. Yet, he had a passion for writing and drama. He graduated from the history department of the language-history and geography faculty at Ankara University before he took part in the Türkiye'nin Yıldızları (Turkey's Stars) TV contest for acting. He was one of the stars of the contest alongside Beren Saat, who went on to become one of the most famous actresses of Turkish TV dramas. He received his first leading role in Bir Bulut Olsam, in which he played the role of Mustafa Bulut. His spectacular portrayal of the character bought the series into attention of audience. Engin Akyürek is well known for portraying many lead roles in TV series, such as Kerim Ilgaz in Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?, Ömer Demir in Kara Para Aşk, and Sancar in Sefirin Kızı. His role as Ömer in Kara Para Aşk led to him winning the best actor award in Seoul International Drama Awards (2015) and a nomination for best performance by an actor at the International Emmy Awards. Apart from television, Akyürek has also starred in movies. His debut film was Kader, in which he starred as Cevat. He also played the role of Tekin in the film Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi, written and directed by Kerem Deren. He is also the brand ambassador of Shell and Disney+ Türkiye.
Engin Akyürek
Sultan Suleiman (historical figure)
for Sultan Suleiman (historical figure) in Hilal Altında
Suggested by mr95
Set in the magnificent, politically turbulent court of Suleiman the Magnificent — arguably the apex of Ottoman civilization — Hilal Altında follows two protagonists across interwoven storylines that eventually converge. Kerem Dönmez, 30, a Black man raised by the Dönmez family (Ottoman court advisors for four generations), serves as one of Suleiman's most trusted diplomatic strategists — the man who drafts the letters that move empires. He is entirely Ottoman in every dimension: his scholarship, his poetry, his political philosophy, his identity. When Kerem is given in arranged marriage to Elif Aslan, the daughter of a Janissary commander, he encounters a woman of formidable intelligence and completely different experience — raised in the military household of the Ottoman elite, practical where he is philosophical, strategic where he is theoretical. Season one is their marriage finding its language. Season two is them operating together in the most complex political environment of their era: Suleiman's court, where the stakes of every interaction are civilizational. A second storyline follows Nil Dönmez, 23, Kerem's adoptive sister — also Black, also raised fully Turkish — whose own arranged marriage to a Venetian merchant navigating trade relations with the Ottomans creates a cross-cultural love story that the show handles with the complexity it deserves.
