Serenay Sarıkaya

2006–2012: Cinema and television

In 2006, Sarıkaya got her first acting part in a film, Şaşkın, directed by Şahin Alpaslan.^[16] In 2008, she starred in a Turkcell commercial and then appeared in her second movie, Plajda, produced by Sinan Çetin and directed by Murat Şeker.

The same year, Sarıkaya obtained her first leading television role in the series Peri Masalı, directed by Celal Çimen, in which she portrayed a fairy godmother.^[17] She also appeared in the series Limon Ağacı, also produced by Çetin, and directed by Deniz Ergun. After the tenth episode, Sarıkaya's character was removed from the storyline.^[18]

Still in 2008, Sarıkaya began to appear in the TV series Adanalı, which was created by Tayfun Güneyer and directed by Adnan Güler. She played the role of a Greek-Turkish girl and received critical acclaim for her mixed Greek-Adana accent.^[19][20]

Sarıkaya competed in the Miss Turkey beauty contest on 1 April 2010, representing the national capital, Ankara. She placed as the first runner-up to the eventual winner, Gizem Memiç, who represented Gaziantep, and earned the right to represent Turkey in the Miss Universe contest. However, she dropped this chance, as she wanted to continue her acting career, and Memiç took her place instead.^[21][22]

Sarıkaya left the cast of Adanalı in its second season^[23] and went on to act in Lale Devri, produced by Şükrü Avşar and directed by Murat Düzgünoğlu.^[24] In one episode of the series, she sang a song that attracted audience attention and for which she received offers to record an album. In an interview, she stated: "The offers are correct. Fees aren't bad. But I'm not going to sing. My job is acting".^[25][26]

In 2011, Sarıkaya starred in the short film Hoşçakal.^[27] In 2012, she left Lale Devri, at the beginning of the third season.^[28][29]

2013–present: Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor, Medcezir, and other projects

In May 2013, Sarıkaya began filming Behzat Ç. Ankara Yanıyor, a movie adapted from the television series Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi.^[30][31] In the same year, she appeared alongside Çağatay Ulusoy in the series Medcezir, which is based on the American show The O.C.. The screenplay was written by Ece Yörenç, and the series was directed by Ali Bilgin. Sarıkaya's character, Mira Beylice, was an adaptation of one of the original series' characters, Marissa Cooper.^[32] In 2014, she appeared in a Elidor commercial, alongside her Medcezir co-star Hazar Ergüçlü.^[33][34] She later became the face of Mavi Jeans after signing a two-year contract.^[35] For the promotion of their spring–summer collection, Sarıkaya shot commercials alongside Brazilian model Francisco Lachowski.^[36] Sarıkaya filmed another ad in 2016 for Mavi, with Barbara Palvin.^[37] For the 2015 spring–summer collection, Sarıkaya appeared in front of the camera with Kerem Bürsin, and their singing received a positive response from audiences.^[38][39]

In 2017–18, Sarıkaya starred in the show Fi, which is based on a series of novels by Azra Kohen.^[40] Fi was one of the first major Turkish television productions to be streamed online by puhutv.^[41][42]

From 2017 to 2018, she was the brand ambassador for Head & Shoulders, filming various campaigns and awareness projects.^[43]

In 2019, she made her theatrical debut as Alice with the musical Alice Müzikali, an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The show was first staged in February 2019 and returned for a second season in September 2019.^[44] After a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alice once again returned to the stage on 7 February 2022.^[45]

Sarıkaya was cast to film the biographic Bergen, detailing the life of singer Belgin Sarılmışer. However, due to difficulties caused by the pandemic and other factors, she left the project.^[46] In 2021, she became the first-ever Turkish brand ambassador for Bulgari.^[47]