Serenay Sarikaya
Biography
Serenay Sarıkaya (born 1 July 1992) is a Turkish actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She came to international attention for her roles in the shows Lale Devri, Medcezir (the Turkish remake of The O.C.), Fi, and the fantasy series Şahmaran.
She graduated from the theatre department of the Fine Arts High School in Istanbul. 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 performed 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.
In 2011, Sarıkaya starred in the short film Hoşçakal. In 2012, she left Lale Devri, at the beginning of the third season.
In 2017–18, Sarıkaya starred in the show Fi, which is based on a series of novels by Azra Kohen. Fi was one of the first major Turkish television productions to be streamed online by Puhutv.
From 2017 to 2018, she was the brand ambassador for Head & Shoulders, filming various campaigns and awareness projects.
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. After a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alice once again returned to the stage on 7 February 2022.
Sarıkaya was cast to film the biographic Bergen, detailing the life of singer Belgin Sarılmışer. However, due to difficulties caused by the pandemic and other factors, she left the project. In 2021, she became the first-ever Turkish brand ambassador for Bulgari.
