Engin Akyürek (born 12 October 1981) is a Turkish actor, screenwriter and author. Akyürek began his acting career in the year 2004. He has starred in many acclaimed series and movies.
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 Yñldñzlarñ (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?, ÃÂmer Demir in Kara Para Aà Âk, and Sancar in Sefirin Kñzñ. His role as ÃÂmer in Kara Para Aà Âk led to him winning the best actor award inàSeoul International Drama Awardsà(2015) and a nomination for best performance by an actor at theàInternational 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 was born on 12 October 1981 in Ankara, Turkey. His family is from Tercan, Erzincan, 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 TurkiyeâÂÂnin Yildizlari (Turkey's Star) TV competition. His first place win in this competition landed him a supporting role in the TV series, Yabancñ Damat (2004âÂÂ2007), produced by Yagmur Taylan and Durul Taylan. InàYabancñ Damat, he worked with many cinema and stage veterans like Erdal ÃÂzyaÃÂcñlar andàZeki Alasyaàalong with young stars such as ðlker 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 Oyuncularñ Dernegi) Awards in 2006. Thereafter, he starred in the role of Nizipli Halim in the TV series, Karayilan (2007âÂÂ2008), a story that took place in Gaziantep, during the French Occupation. Akyürek received his first leading role and played the male psychotic lover, Mustafa Bulut, in the Kanal D TV series Bir Bulut Olsam, written by Meral Okay and directed by Ulaà  Ã°nanc. His spectacular portrayal of the character brought the series into limelight.
From 2010 to 2012, Akyürek solidified his position in the industry when he played the male lead, Kerim Ilgaz, in Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?, 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 GençoÃÂlu for TV drama and produced by Kerem ÃÂatay. He was in the lead role with his friend from the Türkiye'nin Yñldñzlarñ contest, Beren Saat. After a small break, he came and starred as the leading character, Tekin, in the movie Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi (2014), written and directed by Kerem Deren. The movie takes place in Bozcaada. Thereafter, Akyürek returned to the TV screens and portrayed the character of ÃÂmer Demir in the popular TV series Kara Para Aà Âk 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 Aà Âk, Akyürek took a break from acting for some time and returned to small screen with his next seriesàÃÂlene Kadar in January 2017. It was produced by TIMS and written by Elif Usman and Sevgi Yñlmaz.
Akyürek's next projects were movies, first one being ÃÂocuklar Sana Emanet (Children Entrusted to You) released on 23 March 2018. It was written and directed by ÃÂaÃÂan Irmak and produced by à Âükrü Avà Âar.àAkyürek's next venture on the silver screen was the movie Bir Aà Âk ðki Hayat (One Love Two Lives) in 2019. It was produced by Ay Yapñm and written by Burcu Görgün Toptaà  and ÃÂzlem Yñlmaz, whereas Ali Bilgin did the direction. The movie was an adaptation of a Greek movie and was released on 13 February 2019. Between 2019 and 2021 Akyürek to the small screen with his seriesàSefirin Kñzñà(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 Ayà Âe Ferda Eryñlmaz and directed by Emre Kabakuà Âak. He starred in the series with Neslihan Atagül and subsequently Tuba Büyüküstün after Atagül left the show for health reasons. This was his second series with Büyüküstün.
In 2022, Akyürek starred alongside Tolga Sarñtaà  in the film Yolun Açik Olsun (Godspeed), directed by Mehmet Ada ÃÂztekin and released on Netflix. Akyürek made his OTT debut by starring in the debuting Disney+'s series Kaçñà Â, in the lead role opposite ðrem HelvacñoÃÂlu. The story of the series was written by Akyürek himself. The first season received positive reviews from critics, and Akyürek received critical acclaim for both his acting and for writing the story of the series. As of 2023, he has a leading role in the series Adñm Farah with Demet ÃÂzdemir. The dizi has been renewed for a second season after its international success and the 1st episode of the 2nd season was released on 27 September 2023.