Nilperi Şahinkaya

Nilperi Şahinkaya — Biography

Nilperi Şahinkaya was born on 23 February 1988 in Dakar, Senegal, where her father, diplomat Salim Levent Şahinkaya, was posted; her name combines Nil, chosen by her family, with "peri" (fairy), which her grandfather asked for after a dream. Her father's postings took the family to Düsseldorf, Paris and Bern, where she completed primary and secondary school respectively; when her parents divorced when she was fifteen, she moved to Turkey with her mother and settled in Ankara in 2003. She graduated from the Lycée Charles de Gaulle in 2006 and completed the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts at Bilkent University with high honors, and speaks English, French, German and Italian. She began acting as a student in the series Deniz Yıldızı, then after moving to Istanbul played Mesude in Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman Ki and both Defne and Sedef in Kayıp. She had her breakthrough in the lead role of Şeyma in Kiraz Mevsimi and also appeared in N'olur Ayrılalım. She returned to the stage in Kim Korkar Hain Kurttan, directed by Hira Tekindor, work that brought her a Best Supporting Actress award at the Tevfik d'Or Theatre Festival. She played Aslı in Bu Şehir Arkandan Gelecek, Cansu Yıldırım in Yasak Elma, and Nevin Şahin in Yeni Hayat, and won a Sadri Alışık award for playing multiple characters in Erşan Kuneri. She has also appeared in Karakomik Filmler and the Gelin Takımı series.