Serenay Sarıkaya

Serenay Sarıkaya (Turkish pronunciation: [seɾeˌnaj saˈɾɯkaja]; born 1 July 1992) is a Turkish actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder. She is known for the TV series Adanalı, Lale Devri, Medcezir, and Aile. She rose to international prominence with her roles in the series Fi and Şahmaran.

Serenay Sarıkaya
Born	(1992-07-01) 1 July 1992 (age 32) Ankara, Turkey
Occupation(s)	Actress, model
Years active	2006–present

She graduated from the theatre department of Ataşehir Adıgüzel Fine Arts High School in Istanbul.^[1] At the age of fourteen, she made her acting debut with a minor part in the movie Şaşkın (2006) and followed up with a part in Plajda (2008). Her first leading role was in the fantasy children's series Peri Masalı (2008). Her breakthrough role was that of Sofia in the crime comedy series Adanalı (2008–10).

With Nejat İşler, she has appeared in the films Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor and İkimizin Yerine. Since 2019, Sarıkaya performs in Alice Müzikali, a musical adaption based on Alice in Wonderland. She has received critical acclaim and won numerous accolades, including two Golden Butterfly Awards.

At the age of fifteen, she participated in a beauty competition and received a special award from the jury at the European Youth Beauty Competition. Later, Sarıkaya became the first runner-up at Miss Turkey 2010. In addition to her acting career, she has appeared in various advertising films and is the face of numerous brands. In 2014, she was chosen as Woman of the Year by GQ Turkey.

Early life

Serenay Sarıkaya was born on 1 July 1992 in Ankara^[2][3][4][5] to Seyhan Umran and Mustafa Sarikaya. She resided with her family in Antalya until the age of seven, when her parents separated. After her father's remarriage, she moved to Istanbul with her mother.^[6][7] She later described her experience of growing up without her father in an interview: "For a little girl, a father is a special factor in her evolution. Growing up without your father is a big experience".^[8] At that time, while she and her mother were deciding where to live, Sarıkaya knew she wanted to become an actress and a model, which influenced their choice to settle in Istanbul.^[9] Sarıkaya studied at and graduated from the theatre department of the Fine Arts High School.^[10] She did not go on to attend university.^[11]

Sarıkaya is an avid player of volleyball and also plays basketball, as well as having an interest in tennis and Latin dance.^[12][13]

At the age fifteen, she participated in the European Junior Beauty Contest held in Czechia and received a special prize from the jury.^[14][15]

Career

2006–12: Cinema and television

In 2006, Sarıkaya got her first acting part in a film, Şaşkın, directed by Şahin Alpaslan.^[16] In 2008, she starred in a Turkcell commercial and then appeared in her second movie, Plajda, produced by Sinan Çetin and directed by Murat Şeker.

The same year, Sarıkaya obtained her first leading television role in the series Peri Masalı, directed by Celal Çimen, in which she portrayed a fairy godmother.^[17] She also appeared in the series Limon Ağacı, also produced by Çetin, and directed by Deniz Ergun. After the tenth episode, Sarıkaya's character was removed from the storyline.^[18]

Still in 2008, Sarıkaya began to appear in the TV series Adanalı, which was created by Tayfun Güneyer and directed by Adnan Güler. She played the role of a Greek-Turkish girl and received critical acclaim for her mixed Greek-Adana accent.^[19][20]

Sarıkaya competed in the Miss Turkey beauty contest on 1 April 2010, representing the national capital, Ankara. She placed as the first runner-up to the eventual winner, Gizem Memiç, who represented Gaziantep, and earned the right to represent Turkey in the Miss Universe contest. However, she dropped this chance, as she wanted to continue her acting career, and Memiç took her place instead.^[21][22]

Sarıkaya left the cast of Adanalı in its second season^[23] and went on to act in Lale Devri, produced by Şükrü Avşar and directed by Murat Düzgünoğlu.^[24] In one episode of the series, she sang a song that attracted audience attention and for which she received offers to record an album. In an interview, she stated: "The offers are correct. Fees aren't bad. But I'm not going to sing. My job is acting".^[25][26]

In 2011, Sarıkaya starred in the short film Hoşçakal.^[27] In 2012, she left Lale Devri, at the beginning of the third season.^[28][29]

2013–present: Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor, Medcezir, and other projects

In May 2013, Sarıkaya began filming Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor, a movie adapted from the television series Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi.^[30][31] In the same year, she appeared alongside Çağatay Ulusoy in the series Medcezir, which is based on the American show The O.C.. The screenplay was written by Ece Yörenç, and the series was directed by Ali Bilgin. Sarıkaya's character, Mira Beylice, was an adaptation of one of the original series' characters, Marissa Cooper.^[32] In 2014, she appeared in a Elidor commercial, alongside her Medcezir co-star Hazar Ergüçlü.^[33][34] She later became the face of Mavi Jeans after signing a two-year contract.^[35] For the promotion of their spring–summer collection, Sarıkaya shot commercials alongside Brazilian model Francisco Lachowski.^[36] Sarıkaya filmed another ad in 2016 for Mavi, with Barbara Palvin.^[37] For the 2015 spring–summer collection, Sarıkaya appeared in front of the camera with Kerem Bürsin, and their singing received a positive response from audiences.^[38][39]

In 2017–18, Sarıkaya starred in the show Fi, which is based on a series of novels by Azra Kohen.^[40] Fi was one of the first major Turkish television productions to be streamed online by puhutv.^[41][42]

From 2017 to 2018, she was the brand ambassador for Head & Shoulders, filming various campaigns and awareness projects.^[43]

In 2019, she made her theatrical debut as Alice with the musical Alice Müzikali, an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The show was first staged in February 2019 and returned for a second season in September 2019.^[44] After a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alice once again returned to the stage on 7 February 2022.^[45]

Sarıkaya was cast to film the biograpic Bergen, detailing the life of singer Belgin Sarılmışer. However, due to difficulties caused by the pandemic and other factors, she left the project.^[46] In 2021, she became the first-ever Turkish brand ambassador for Bulgari.^[47]

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Şaşkın	Itır	Supporting role
2008	Plajda	Aslı	Supporting role
2010	How to Train Your Dragon	Astrid Hofferson	Dubbing voice
2011	Hoşçakal	Sarah	Short film
2013	Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor	Melisa	Supporting role
2016	İkimizin Yerine	Çiçek	Main role
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Peri Masalı	Talya	Main role
	Limon Ağacı	Peri	Main role
2008–2010	Adanalı	Sofia Dikkaya	Main role
2010–2012	Lale Devri	Yeşim Taşkıran	Main role
2013–2015	Medcezir	Mira Beylice	Leading role
2017–2018	Fi	Duru Durulay	Leading role[48]
2023	Şahmaran	Şahsu	Leading role
2023–2024	Aile	Devin Akın	Leading role
2024	Kimler Geldi, Kimler Geçti	Leyla Taylan	Leading role

Theatre

Theatre
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	Alice Müzikali	Alice	Main role

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2010	Miss Turkey			Runner-up
2013	Turkey Elle Style Awards	Best Hair Style	Medcezir	Won
2014	magazinci.com Awards	Best Actress		Won
	GQ Turkey Men of the Year Awards	Woman of the Year		Won
	Istanbul Technical University Awards	Best TV series Actress		Won
	5th Ayaklı Newspaper TV Stars Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series		Won
	Çanakkale 18 Mart University Awards	Best Actress		Won
	Karadeniz Technical University Awards	Best Actress		Won
	4th İMK Social Media Awards	Best Actress		Won
	3rd Crystal Mouse Media Awards	Best Actress		Won
	41st Golden Butterfly Awards	Best Actress		Won
2015	Istanbul Arel University 4th Media and Art Awards	Most Admired TV series Actress		Won
	YTÜ Stars of the Year Awards	Most Admired TV series Actress		Won
	5th Unimpeded Life Foundation Awards	Best TV Actress of the Year		Won
	MGD 21. Gold Lens Awards	Best Drama Actress		Won
	Turkey Youth Awards	Best Actress		Won
	Ege University 4th Media Awards	Best Actress		Won
	Kayahan Media and Arts Awards	Best Actress of the Year		Won
	6th Quality of Magazine Awards	Top Quality Actress		Won
	42nd Golden Butterfly Awards	Best Actress		Won
2016	2nd Elele Avon Woman Awards	Actress of the Year		Nominated
	6th Elle Style Awards	Elle Style Actress of the Year		Nominated
	10th GSUEN Awards	Best TV/Movie Actress		Nominated
	7th İMK Social Media Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
2017	24th İTÜ EMÖS Achievement Awards	Most Successful Movie Actress of the Year	İkimizin Yerine	Won
	12th İTÜ Makinistanbul Media, Art and Sport Awards	Movie Actress of the Year		Won
	1st Turkey Children Awards	Best Television Actress	Medcezir	Nominated
	3rd Turkey Youth Awards	Best Television Actress		Nominated
		Best Movie Actress	İkimizin Yerine	Nominated
	4th Mersin Golden Palm Awards	Movie Actress of the Year		Won
	7th Life Foundation Awards	Best Actress of the Year	Fi	Won
	6th Fashion TV Mode Awards	Most Successful Actress of the Year		Won
	6th Ayaklı Newspaper Awards	Best Actress		Won
	44th Golden Butterfly Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
	6th Bilkent TV Awards	Best Drama Actress		Nominated
2018	16th YTÜ Stars of the Year Awards	Most Liked TV and Movie Actress		Won
	12th GSÜ The Bests Awards	Best TV/Cinema Actress		Won
2020	18th YTÜ Stars of the Year Awards	Most Like Theatre Actress	Alice Müzikali	Won
	8th Ayaklı Newspaper Awards	Best Theatre Actress		Won

References

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15. "Aile Devin kimdir? Aile dizisinde Devin karakterine hayat veren Serenay Sarıkaya kimdir, aslen nereli, kaç yaşında?" [Who is Aile Devin? Who is Serenay Sarıkaya, who plays the character of Devin in the TV series Aile, where is she originally from, how old is she?]. milliyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 10 October 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
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21. "MISS TURKEY 2010" (in Turkish). Teleskopya. 23 March 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
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37. "Serenay Sarıkaya ve Barbara Palvin Reklamı Yayınlandı – Trendus.com". www.trendus.com. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
38. "Bundan Sonra Mavi Serenay Sarıkaya ve Kerem Bürsin'den Sorulacak". Yeni Ülke (in Turkish). 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
39. "Kerem Bürsin ve Serenay Sarıkaya'lı Mavi Reklamı". Trendus (in Turkish). 8 April 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
40. "Fi oyuncuları dizinin bilinmeyenlerini anlattı". ntv.com.tr. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
41. "Türkiye'nin İlk Büyük Çaplı İnternet Dizisi Fi Başladı!". Webtekno. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
42. "Fi Çi Pi dizisi bitiyor mu? Fi Çi final mi yapacak?". hthayat.haberturk.com (in Turkish). 25 December 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
43. git, Şiddetli Sevgi: Flört Şiddeti | Av Cansen Erdoğan anlatıyor“Ailene benimle birlikte olduğunu söyleyeceğim! Abine aramızdakileri anlatacağım! Gönderdiğin fotoğrafları İnternet’te yayınlayacağım! Okulda kimseyle konuşmayacaksın! Arkadaşlarınla görüşmeni istemiyorum! Oraya gidemezsin! Bensiz hele bir; kavramını, görürsün sen dünya kaç bucakmış…” Bu sözler tanıdık geldi mi? Av Cansen Erdoğan flört şiddeti; için, hangi davranışların flört şiddeti kapsamına girdiğini ve flört şiddetinin ceza hukukundaki yerini Pembenar izleyicileri için anlattı daha fazla video. "Head & Shoulders yeni şampuanını Serenay Sarıkaya ile tanıttı". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 21 April 2022.
44. Aparı, Saadet Firdevs (7 September 2019). "'Alice Müzikali' yeni sezonuna başladı". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
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46. "Serenay Sarıkaya, Bergen projesinden ayrıldı! Yerine Demet Evgar mı gelecek?". Haberler (in Turkish). 26 May 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
47. "Serenay Sarıkaya ıs the new brand ambassador of Bvlgarı ın Turkey". GBM. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
48. ""Fi,Çi,Pi" dizisinden ilk fotoğraflar geldi!". Gecce (in Turkish). 20 December 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.

External links

• Serenay Sarıkaya at IMDb