Hazal Kaya
Leyla Hazal Kaya (born 1 October 1990) is a Turkish actress and model. Kaya is best known for playing the role of Feriha Sarrafoglu in the television series "Adını Feriha Koydum" (2011–2012) and Filiz in "Bizim Hikaye" (inspired by the British TV show "Shameless") (2017–2019). Early life. Kaya was born in Konya, Turkey. She attended Gaziosmanpaşa elementary school and graduated in 2009 from the Liceo Italiano di Istanbul. She enrolled in Istanbul Bilgi University for her higher education. Her parents, who are both lawyers, divorced when she was 7 years old. She was introduced to the art and  acting world at a very young age, and as a child she took ballet and violin lessons for 7 years. Kaya speaks Italian and English fluently, in addition to her native language Turkish. She was also said to be learning a fourth language, German. Career. Kaya started her acting career in 2006 with TV series "Genco". She played the character of Özge (Gülay Erkaya). In 2008, Kaya played Nihal Ziyagil in a modern-day adaptation of the novel "Aşk-ı Memnu", written by Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil. She had her cinematic debut in Selçuk Aydemir's movie "Çalgı Çengi" in 2011 . At the same time she took lessons from Ayla Algan in drama. She then joined Ümit Çırak Modern Acting Techniques Workshop and took acting lessons from Ümit Çırak himself. Kaya played in the first two seasons of the TV series "Adını Feriha Koydum" (2011) as the lead character, Feriha Sarrafoğlu. She played the role of a porter's daughter trapped between two lives and falls in love with the most popular student at her university, a rich and handsome boy "Emir Sarrafoğlu" (Çağatay Ulusoy). The series had one of the highest TV ratings in Turkey. Later, together with her mother  Ayşegül Kaya, she appeared in the commercials for Bingo. In the late 2012, she left the cast of "Adını Feriha Koydum" and starred in a new series called "Son Yaz Balkanlar 1912", portraying the character Emine. However, the series ended after a few episodes due to low ratings. She later appeared in the 2013 series "A.Ş.K" and played the character of Azra Özak, a tennis coach. That series also ended after 13 episodes. In 2015 she appeared in "Maral: En Güzel Hikayem", opposite Aras Bulut İynemli. She played the leading character Maral Erdem. Her latest TV show is "Bizim Hikaye  (in English: Our Story), which is the Turkish adaptation of the American TV series Shameless". In this TV show Kaya plays "Filiz Elibol Aktan", opposite actor Burak Deniz. As of 2021, she shares the leading roles with Bugra Gulsoy and Ozan Dolunay in the TV series Misafir, an adaptation of the Japanese TV series Oasis. Personal life. She married actor Ali Atay on 6 February 2019, and gave birth to their son Fikret Ali Atay on 22 October 2019. In the media. Kaya is one of Turkey's highest-paid actresses. Ichaps, having chosen the most important names of 2014  in many categories, included Hazal Kaya among the "most influential names in the world" and granted her the medal of international excellence in the category of artists. According to the results of a survey conducted on the United Arab Emirates-based MBC channels, which ranked Turkish series and special programs, she ranked 4th on the list of most admired Turkish women artists. At the same time, official surveys covering the August 2010 - August 2015 period, taken in 35 countries, placed her 6th on the list of 10 most popular actresses. She was also the only Turkish recipient of the "Lebanon  Awards 2015" award. According to the results obtained from 35 countries between May 2011 and May 2016, Kaya was the 6th most popular actress. In May 2016, she rose to number five on the list. The website "World's Most Beautifuls" ranked her fifth on the list of 10 most beautiful women of 2016.