Bergüzar Korel

Bergüzar Korel — Biography

Bergüzar Gökçe Korel comes from a family of Cretan Turkish, Rumelian and Albanian descent; her father is actor Tanju Korel and her mother actress Hülya Darcan, and she was born in İstanbul on August 27, 1982. She trained in theatre at Mimar Sinan University's State Conservatory, played volleyball as a student, appeared in the State Theatre's production of Kuva-yi Milliye, and worked for a time with Susan Baston, an acting coach who has also coached Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks.

She made her screen debut in 1998 with Kırık Hayatlar, then moved into film in 2006 playing Leyla in Kurtlar Vadisi Irak; that same year, her performance as Şehrazat Evliyaoğlu in Binbir Gece, coached by Ayla Algan, won her a Golden Butterfly as the year's best actress. She went on to appear in Aşk Geliyorum Demez, Bitmeyen Şarkı and Karadayı, the latter's Feride role bringing her a second Golden Butterfly. Beyond acting, she has hosted a television program, voiced a character in an animated film, released two jazz albums, and coached children in acting for a joint Yapı Kredi-TEGV social outreach project.

She shared the lead in Vatanım Sensin from 2016 to 2018 with Halit Ergenç, whom she married in 2009; the couple have three children, Ali, Han and Leyla. More recently she has appeared in the film On Saniye and HBO Max's İlk ve Son, and in 2026 reunited with Kenan İmirzalıoğlu in the series A.B.İ.