Beren Saat (; born 26 February 1984) is a Turkish actress. Since the beginning of her career, she has received critical acclaim and numerous accolades for her acting. While studying at Başkent University, she participated in the acting competition Türkiye'nin Yıldızları and was discovered by Turkish director Tomris Giritlioğlu, launching her professional acting career.
Beren Saat made her acting debut with a minor part in the television series Aşkımızda Ölüm Var (2004). She was then prepared by Tomris Giritlioğlu for her first major role in Aşka Sürgün (2005–2006). She starred as a feisty tomboy named Yasemin Ünsal in the ATV's political series Hatırla Sevgili (2006–2008) and came to international attention for her role as Bihter Yöreoğlu Ziyagil, an unfaithful wife, in the Kanal D's romantic series Aşk-ı Memnu (2008–2010), for which she received critical acclaim and won numerous accolades, including two Golden Butterfly Awards. Her other major roles in television includes a rape victim, Fatmagül Ketenci Ilgaz, in the social drama Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne? (2010–2012), and an avenger named Derin Çelik/Yağmur Özden in the drama series İntikam (2013–2014), a remake from the American television series Revenge. Her film career began with the drama film Güz Sancısı (2009), and continued with Gecenin Kanatları (2009), Rhino Season (2012) and Benim Dünyam (2013). From 2015 to 2016, she starred as the titular character in the historical drama series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, for which she was said to be receiving 90,000 per episode. Between 2019 and 2021, Saat had the leading role on the Netflix original series The Gift.
Saat was the highest-paid actress in Turkey from 2008 to 2014. She has participated in several movies as a voice actor. She was named Actress of the Year in the "2010 Damgasını Vuranlar" list published by Radikal newspaper. In addition to her acting career, Saat is noted for her charitable efforts. She has been married to singer Kenan Doğulu since 2014.
Early life
Beren Saat was born on 26 February 1984 in Ankara, to Ayla Saat (née Dikmen) and Hüseyin Avni Saat, both graduates of sports academy. She has a brother, Cem Saat. Raised in Ankara, she primarily studied at TED Ankara College Foundation Private High School and briefly attended Başkent University's Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences before pursuing a career in acting. With the support of her college friends, she applied to an acting competition called Türkiye'nin Yıldızları in which she became the first runner-up. After that, she appeared on TV commercials of Tofita directed by Sinan Çetin. She was discovered by the renowned director Tomris Giritlioğlu and debuted in her first series Aşkımızda Ölüm Var.
Career
2004–08: Hatırla Sevgili and Aşk-ı Memnu
In 2004, she was cast as Nermin in the TV series Aşkımızda Ölüm Var, directed by Nazif Tunç and Ümit Efekan. Her character was the sister of Ece Uslu's character in the series. In 2005, she starred as the female lead Zilan Şahvar Azizoğlu in Aşka Sürgün which was produced by Tomris Giritlioğlu and directed by Cemal Şan. Her co-star in this series was Mahsun Kırmızıgül. In 2006, she was cast as Yasemin Ünsal in the popular series Hatırla Sevgili directed by Faruk Teber and Ümmü Burha. She shared the leading role with Cansel Elçin and Okan Yalabık. The series focused on the political events occurred during 1950–70 and Saat achieved great success and nationwide fame during the period of its broadcast. Saat's friend and co-star Cansel Elçin gave an interview in which he described Beren Saat as a "super artist of high quality". In 2007, Saat appeared as a guest actress on episode 121 of the series Avrupa Yakası.