Pelin Öztekin

Pelin Öztekin — Biography

Pelin Öztekin, daughter of stage and screen actor Rasim Öztekin, was born on 4 July 1987 in the İzmit district of Kocaeli; she completed primary and middle school at the Nurettin Teksan School in Istanbul's Fenerbahçe neighborhood, finished high school at Fenerbahçe Lisesi, then studied theatre at Pera Fine Arts High School and, in France, languages at École des Roches.

She appeared on screen in 2005 as Demet in the series Hayat Bilgisi, joined the BKM Mutfak comedy troupe the following year, took the role of Şebnem in Haldun Dormen's 2007 play Hisseli Harikalar Kumpanyası, and performed with BKM's stage show Çok Güzel Hareketler Bunlar from 2008 to 2010, then working with the same troupe on the films Neşeli Hayat (2009) and Çok Filim Hareketler Bunlar (2010). She went on to roles in Sınıf (2008), the competition show Benzemez Kimse Sana (2012), Doksanlar (2013), the German-made 300 Worte Deutsch (2013) and, as Zeynep, Hayat Şarkısı (2016). After gastric surgery in 2014 she reportedly lost 86 kilograms over three and a half years, and her weight loss has been covered by the entertainment press repeatedly in the years since. Following her father's death in 2021, she made headlines again in 2026 for publicly defending his legacy after a clash with actor Şevket Çoruh that followed a football derby.