Engin Akyürek (born 12 October 1981) is a Turkish actor. He is known for his various roles, such as Kerim Ilgaz in Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne?, Ömer Demir in Kara Para Aşk, and Sancar Efeoğlu in Sefirin Kızı. Akyürek began his acting career in the year 2004 and is considered one of Turkey’s most successful and highest-paid actors. He is also the Brand Ambassador of Shell and Disney+ Türkiye.
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 in 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’ attention.
Akyürek came to the small screens in 2014 and played the lead role of Ömer Demir in the Kara Para Aşk TV series. His role in the series led to him winning the best actor award at 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.
| Name | Engin Akyürek |
| Date of Birth | 12 October 1981 |
| Birth Place | Ankara, Turkey |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Education | Graduated |
| College | Ankara University Department of History |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Currently Dating | Married (Tuba Büyüküstün) |
Engin Akyürek was born on 12 October 1981 in Ankara, Turkey. His father is a government official and his mother is a homemaker. He has a younger brother. Akyürek graduated from the Ankara University Department Of History in 2002, where he had expertise in Languages and History.
In 2004, two years after graduating from university, Engin Akyürek took part in the Turkiye’nin Yildizlari (Turkey’s Star) TV competition. His first-place win in this competition landed him a supporting role in the TV series, Yabancı Damat (2004–2007), produced by Yagmur Taylan and Durul Taylan. In Yabancı Damat, he worked with many cinema and stage veterans like Erdal Özyağcılar and Zeki Alasya along with young stars such as İlker Aksum and Binnur Kaya.
He appeared in all 106 episodes of the show becoming a regular face for TV spectators. The TV series became popular in Greece as well, reflecting the warm Turkish-European relations at that time. The show began in 2004 and made its finale in 2007. His first film debut was Zeki Demirkubuz’s Kader (2006). For his portrayal of Cevat in this film, Engin Akyürek received the “Most Promising Actor” award for both the Turkish Cinema Awards and for CASOD (Cagdas Sinema Oyuncuları Dernegi) Awards in 2006.
Thereafter, he starred in the role of Nizipli Halim in the TV series, Karayilan (2007–2008), a story that took place in Gaziantep, a story that took place during the French Occupation. Akyürek played the male psychotic lover, Mustafa Bulut, in the TV series Bir Bulut Olsam, written by Meral Okay and directed by Ulaş İnanc.
Akyürek played the male lead, Kerim Ilgaz, in Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne? (2010–2012), a TV series about societal issues surrounding a rape victim. The original scenario of Fatmagul’ün Suçu Ne? by Vedat Türkali, is written by Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu for TV drama and produced by Kerem Çatay. He was in the lead role with his friend from the Türkiye’nin Yıldızları contest, Beren Saat. He then starred as Tekin, the leading character, in the movie Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi (2014), written and directed by Kerem Deren.
The movie takes place in Bozcaada. Akyürek returned to the TV screens as Ömer Demir in Kara Para Aşk in 2014 for which he won the Best Actor award at the Seoul International Drama Awards (2015) and was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actor. After Kara Para Aşk, Akyürek took a break from acting for some time and returned to the small screen with his next series Ölene Kadar in January 2017. It was produced by TIMS and written by Elif Usman and Sevgi Yılmaz.
Akyürek’s next projects were movies, the first, one being Çocuklar Sana Emanet (Children Entrusted to You) released on 23 March 2018. It was written and directed by Çağan Irmak and produced by Şükrü Avşar. Akyürek’s next venture on the silver screen was the movie Bir Aşk İki Hayat (One Love Two Lives) in 2019. It was produced by Ay Yapım and written by Burcu Görgün Toptaş and Özlem Yılmaz, whereas Ali Bilgin did the direction.
The movie was an adaptation of a Greek movie and was released on 13 February 2019. Akyürek returned to the small screen with his series Sefirin Kızı (The Ambassador’s Daughter) from December 2019 to May 2021. The series was a joint production of O3 Medya and NGM and was aired on Star TV, and was written by Nehir Erdem and Ayşe Ferda Eryılmaz and directed by Emre Kabakuşak. In 2022, he acted in the Disney+ series Kaçış with İrem Helvacıoğlu.
Movies And TV Series
Series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–2007 | Yabancı Damat | Kadir Sadıkoğlu | Supporting role |
| 2007–2008 | Karayilan | Nizipli Halim | Supporting role |
| 2008–2009 | Bir Bulut Olsam | Mustafa Bulut | Lead role |
| 2010–2012 | Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne? | Kerim Ilgaz | Lead role |
| 2014–2015 | Kara Para Aşk | Ömer Demir | Lead role |
| 2017 | Ölene Kadar | Dağhan Soysür | Lead role |
| 2019–2021 | Sefirin Kızı | Sancar Efeoğlu | Lead role |
| 2022 | Mahkum | Mehmet | Guest role |
| 2022 | Kaçış | Mehmet | Lead role |
Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Kader | Cevat | supporting role |
| 2014 | A Small September Affair | Tekin Bulut (Tek) | lead role |
| 2018 | Çocuklar Sana Emanet | Kerem | lead role |
| 2019 | Bir Aşk İki Hayat | Umüt | lead role |
| 2022 | Godspeed | Captain Salih Çetin | lead role |
Engin Akyürek Images Gallery
Engin Akyürek Age?
Engin Akyürek is 40 years old as of 2022.
Engin Akyürek Height?
Engin Akyürek is 6’2″ tall.
Engin Akyürek Weight?
Engin Akyürek’s weight is 74 kg.
Engin Akyürek Girlfriend, Relationship & Love Affair?
He got secretly married to Tuba Büyüküstün in 2021.
He had at least 3 relationships previously. Engin Akyürek has been in relationships with Cansu Dere (2018), Tuvana Türkay (2014 – 2015) and Cansu Taskin (2011).
In 2011, Engin was in a relationship with Cansu Taskin, a Turkish actress and model known for her roles in the 2013 comedy “(Q)üfür “ and the 2017 romantic movie “Bambaska”. The two dated for only a couple of months before splitting ways for unknown reasons.
In 2014, Engin began dating Tuvana Turkay, another Turkish actress who has played lead characters in over ten movies, including the 2015 “Güvercin Uçuverdi”, the 2016 “Somuncu Baba Aşkın Sırrı” and the 2020 “Ağır Romantik”. The two were together for around a year and a half before breaking up.
He dated Cansu Dere, a Turkish actress, for several months in 2018 before splitting.
As of March 2021, Engin appears to be dating Tülin Yazkan, alongside whom he is starring in the series “The Ambassador’s Daughter”.