Hazal Kaya

Leyla Hazal Kaya (born 1 October 1990) is a Turkish actress known for her performances predominantly in television and films. Kaya is one of Turkey's highest-paid actresses. She received several accolades and was the only Turkish recipient of the "Lebanon Awards 2015" award. She made her acting debut with a guest role in Acemi Cadı. Kaya gain popularity for Nihal Ziyagil in a modern-day adaptation of the novel Aşk-ı Memnu, written by Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil. She is best known for playing the role of Feriha Sarrafoglu, Adını Feriha Koydum (2011–2012) and won 2nd Crystal Mouse Media Awards for Best Actress. The series had one of the highest TV ratings in Turkey. She further known for playing Filiz Elibol in Bizim Hikaye (inspired by the British TV show Shameless) (2017–2019) for which she received highly acclaimed and Latina Turkish Awards for Best Actress respectively. Kaya explore into the webseries world with the time travel historical drama series Midnight at the Pera Palace (2022) playing Esra / Peride. The show was premiered on Netflix. She is married to actor Ali Atay in 2019 with whom she has two children. 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.