Engin Akyürek

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 University of Ankara Department Of History in 2002, where he had expertise in Languages and History. [1]

In 2004, two years after graduating from university, Engin Akyürek took part in the Turkiye’nin Yildizlari (Turkey's Star) TV competition.[1] His first place win in this competition landed him a supporting role in the TV series, Yabanci Damat (2004–2007), produced by Yagmur Taylan and Durul Taylan.His role in Yabancı Damat was with many cinema and stage veterans like Erdal Özyağcılar and Zeki Alasya along with young stars such as Ilker 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.[4] 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[5] and for CASOD (Cagdas Sinema Oyuncuları Dernegi) Awards in 2006.[6] Thereafter, he starred in the role of Nizipli Halim in the TV series, Karayilan, a story that took place in Gaziantep (2007–2008), 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 Ulas Inanc.

Also,Akyürek played the male romantic 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 Yorenc and Melek Gencoglu for TV Drama and produced by Kerem Çatay. He was in the lead role with his friend from Turkiye’nin Yildizlari, Beren Saat. He then starred as Tekin,the leading character, in a movie called Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi written and directed by Kerem Deren. The movie takes place in Bozcaada (2014).[7] Akyürek returned to the TV screens as Omer Demir in Kara Para Aşk in 2014 for which he won best actor in Seoul International Drama Awards (2015) and was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actor.[8] After Kara Para Aşk, Akyürek took a break from acting for some time and returned to small screen with his next series Ölene Kadar (Until Death) in January 2017. It was produced by TIMS and written by Elif Usman anf Sevgi Yilmaz. The first four episodes were directed by Umur Turagay and the rest by Feride Kaytan.

Akyürek's next projects were movies, first one being Çocuklar Sana Emanet (Children Entrusted to You) released on March 23, 2018. It was written and directed by Çağan Irmak and produced by Sukru Avsar. 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 yapim and written by Burcu Gorgun Toptas and Özlem Yılmaz, whereas Ali Bilgin did the direction. The movie was an adaptation of a Greek movie and got released on February 13, 2019.Akyürek returned to the small screen with his series Sefirin Kızı (The Ambassador's Daughter) from December 16, 2019. The series is a joint production of O3 Medya and NGM and is aired on Star TV. It is written by Nehir Erdem and Ayse Ferda Eryilmaz and directed by Emre Kabakusak.

• Akyürek, Engin (2018). Sessizlik (in Turkish). Doğan Kitap. ISBN 978-6050955255.