Serenay Sarıkaya

Serenay Sarıkaya ([seɾeˌnaj saˈɾɯkaja]; born 1 July 1991) is a Turkish actress and model. She made her cinematic debut by acting in the movie Plajda (2008).

Sarıkaya made her acting debut with a minor part in the movie Şaşkın (2006) and later starred in the film Plajda (2008). At the same year she appeared in the television series Peri Masalı (2008) directed by Sinan Çetin and was later prepared by him for her first leading role in Limon Ağacı (2008). She later appeared in Adanalı (2008–10). Sarıkaya became the first runner-up at Miss Turkey 2010. She came to international attention for her roles in Lale Devri (2010–12) and Medcezir (2013–15) and received critical acclaim and won numerous accolades, including two Golden Butterfly Awards. She continued her movie career with a role in Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor (2013).

In addition to her acting career, Sarıkaya has appeared in many advertising films and is the face of numerous brands. In 2014, she was chosen as the Woman of the Year by GQ Turkey.

Serenay Sarıkaya was born on 1 July 1991 in Ankara to Seyhan Umran and Mustafa Sarikaya. She resided with her family in Antalya until the age of 7 when her parents separated. After her father's remarriage, she moved to Istanbul with her mother. She later described her experience of growing up without her father in an interview: "For a little girl, father is a special factor in her evolution. Growing up without your father is a big experience". At that time, when they wanted to decide about their living in Antalya or Istanbul, Sarıkaya told her mother that she wanted to become an actress and made her mother move to Istanbul. Sarıkaya later studied at Antalya Saime Salih Konca High School and although she wanted to continue her studies in university, she hasn't received any degree yet. During her childhood, Sarıkaya wanted to become a model. She has been an avid player of volleyball and also frequently takes part in basketball. She is also interested in tennis and Latin dance. At the age 15, Sarıkaya participated in the European Junior Beauty Contest held in the Czech Republic and received a special prize from the jury.

2006–12: Cinema movies and TV series

In 2006, after receiving a special prize from the jury at the European Youth Beauty Competition held in the Czech Republic, she took part in the film Şaşkın directed by Şahin Alpaslan and portrayed the character Itır. In 2008, she starred in an advertising film for Turkcell and then acted in her second movie Plajda produced by Sinan Çetin and directed by Murat Şeker. She played the character Aslı in this movie. She was then prepared by Çetin for her first leading role in a TV series titled Peri Masalı directed by Celal Çimen. She portrayed the fairy godmother Talya. Her co-stars included Ayşen Gruda, Altan Günbay and Şahap Sayılgan. At the same year she starred in the TV series Limon Ağacı alongside Kaan Urgancıoğlu. It was again produced by Sinan Çetin and directed by Deniz Ergun. After the tenth episode, Sarıkaya's character Peri was removed from the storyline. In 2008, Sarıkaya began to take part in the TV series Adanalı, which was created by Tayfun Güneyer and directed by Adnan Güler. The starring cast included Oktay Kaynarca, Mehmet Akif Alakurt and Selin Demiratar. She played the role of Oktay Kaynarca's Greek-Turkish daughter named Sofia and received critical acclaim for mix Greek-Adana accent. She competed in the national beauty contest of Miss Turkey on 1 April 2010, representing the National Capital, Ankara. She was placed as the first runner-up to the eventual winner, Gizem Memiç, representing Gaziantep, and earned the right to represent Turkey on the Miss Universe contest. However, she dropped this chance as she wanted to continue her acting career and Gizem Memiç took her place instead. Sarıkaya left the cast of Adanalı at its second season and instead started to act in another TV series titled Lale Devri, produced by Şükrü Avşar and directed by Murat Düzgünoğlu. She portrayed the character of Yeşim Taşkıran. Her co-stars included Tolgahan Sayışman and Hatice Aslan. She sang a song in an episode of this series that attracted the audience and received proposals for making an album. Sarıkaya said that she had discovered her talent in music with the help of her friend and was trained to improve her sound. In an interview she was offered to record an album on which she replied: "The offers are correct. Fees aren't bad. But I'm not going to sing. My job is acting". She starred in a short film in 2011 titled Hoşçakal. In 2012, after finishing the second season of Lale Devri, she decided to leave the series and due to her contract left the series at the beginning of the third season.

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

In May 2013, Sarıkaya began shooting for Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor, a cinema movie adapted from the television series Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi. She portrayed the character Melisa. In the same year, Sarıkaya, alongside Çağatay Ulusoy, acted in the series Medcezir, which is based on the original American series The O.C.. The scenario was written by Ece Yörenç and the series was directed by Ali Bilgin. Sarıkaya's character Mira Beylice, was an adaptation from one of the original series' characters, Marissa Cooper. In 2014, she appeared in an advertising film for Elidor alongside her Medcezir co-star, Hazar Ergüçlü. In March of the same year, she appeared in another advertising film for the brand Thor directed by an Icelander. She later became the face of Mavi Jeans after signing a two-year contract. For the promotion of the spring-summer collection of this brand, Sarıkaya shot commercials alongside the famous Brazilian model Francisco Lachowski. At the September of the same year, she again appeared in an advertising film for the same brand. The action scenes involved in the advertising film was shot in three days. For the promotion of 2015 spring-summer collection of the Mavi Jeans, Sarıkaya went in front of the camera with Kerem Bürsin. Sarıkaya and Bürsin's joint singing in the commercials received a positive response from the audience.

In 2017–18, Sarıkaya played the character Duru in the series Fi, which is based on a series of novels by Azra Kohen. 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 first went on stage in February 2019 and returned for a second season in September 2019.