Tuba Büyüküstün

Tuba Büyüküstün — Biography

Tuba Büyüküstün is one of the best-known Turkish actresses abroad. She won a wide following across the Middle East with Ihlamurlar Altında and Asi, became the first Turkish actor nominated for an International Emmy for 20 Dakika, and more recently played Ada in the Netflix series Zeytin Ağacı. She is also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF Turkey.

Her path began in stage and costume design: she acted in commercials while studying at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and, after graduating, turned to acting through director Tomris Giritlioğlu. Her first series work was the last four episodes of Sultan Makamı in 2003; in 2004 she was noticed as Zarife in Çemberimde Gül Oya, and the same year she won Best Actress at the Serbia-Montenegro International TV Festival for the television film Gülizar. She broke through in 2005 with Ihlamurlar Altında and moved into film with Babam ve Oğlum. The series Asi (2007-2009) was nominated at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. In 2010 she played her first lead in cinema in Yüreğine Sor.

20 Dakika followed in 2013 and Kara Para Aşk in 2014; for that role and her charity work she was named Best Actress at the 14th International Giuseppe Sciacca Awards. She then appeared in the film İstanbul Kırmızısı, Cesur ve Güzel, Sefirin Kızı and the Netflix series Rise of Empires: Ottoman, the first Turkish series recorded in English. Zeytin Ağacı set viewing records for Turkish series on Netflix. Büyüküstün married actor Onur Saylak in 2011 and had twin daughters in 2012; the couple separated in 2017.