Beren Saat (Turkish pronunciation: [beˈɾæn saˈat]; born 26 February 1984) is a Turkish actress and singer. 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 playing a minor role 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 include 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 of 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. In February 2026, Saat made her musical debut with the release of "CapitaliZoo".
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.
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.
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.
Later in 2008, she was cast in a leading role as Bihter Yöreoğlu Ziyagil in Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), a romantic drama series which was adapted from author Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil's novel of the same name. The series was directed by Hilal Saral. Saat shared the leading role with Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, Selçuk Yöntem and Nebahat Çehre. The story is about a girl, Bihter Yöreoğlu Ziyagil, who falls in a forbidden love with her husband's young nephew, Behlül (portrayed by Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ). Aşk-ı Memnu received positive response from the audience and was the most watched TV series in the history of Turkish television productions. Three out of every four people in Turkey watched the final episode titled "Veda". Beren Saat received critical acclaim by the critics for her performance in the final episode and the suicide scene of Bihter broke viewing records. Turkish film actress Selda Alkor commented on the final performance of Saat saying: "I congratulate Beren Saat. She really played great. She portrayed the character's psychology so great that I believe she'll become one of the most important actresses of the industry like one of us". The series became one of the most common complaints during its broadcast and some of these complaints were issued by RTÜK from time to time and were rebuffed by some ministers. After the show was broadcast around the world, Saat rose to international prominence specially in the Middle East and Europe. On 24 June 2010, the final episode aired which featured Bihter's death and the following year on the character's death anniversary people shared messages mourning her decease. The series also reached great popularity in Egypt and a TV channel made a documentary about Beren Saat's life. Hamdi Alkan, a member of Türkiye'nin Yıldızları jury was interviewed and detailed information about Beren Saat. At the end of 2010, Media Monitoring Center after a research announced that Saat has been one of the most popular TV series actors and the most talked actress of the year. She was named as Actress of the Year in the "2010 Damgasını Vuranlar" list published by Radikal newspaper.
In an interview, she stated that "I've learned a lot from what the writers wrote about the mentality of Bihter". For her role in the series, she won two Golden Butterfly Awards, and was the first nominee to win the award for two consecutive years. After the series' conclusion, the scenario was sold to Italy in 2010 and to the United States in 2012 for making adaptations in these two countries.
2009–12: Cinema movies and Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?
Güz Sancısı (Pains of Autumn) was her first feature film experience, a period film directed by Tomris Giritlioğlu. Co-starred with Murat Yıldırım, Okan Yalabık and Belçim Bilgin, Saat portrayed the Greek prostitute Elena. In 2009, she also acted in Serdar Akar's film Gecenin Kanatları (Wings of the Night), written by Mahsun Kırmızıgül. She shared the lead role with Murat Ünalmış, Erkan Petekkaya and Yavuz Bingöl. She played the character Gece. There was a long discussion over a sex scene involving Saat and her co-star Murat Ünalmış on whether to show it or not and later the images of this scene was shown in the film's trailer which resulted in Saat's extreme backlash. She didn't attend the film's premiere and later sued the producer. In 2013, she withdrew the case against the producer. In 2010, she dubbed the voice of Barbie in the Turkish version of high-grossing animation Toy Story 3. In the summer of 2010, she became the face of the chips brand Patos for which she participated in numerous commercials and advertisements. Thereafter, the sales of Patos chips increased by 45% . In the same year, Saat became the face of advertisements for Rexona.
In 2010, Saat acted in the series Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne? a screenplay adaptation of the movie written by Vedat Türkali in 1986. The series was directed by Hilal Saral and written by Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu. Her role Fatmagül Ketenci Ilgaz portrayed a victim of rape. Saat's principal partner in this series was her friend from Türkiye'nin Yıldızları competition, Engin Akyürek. The other main actors were Sumru Yavrucuk, Musa Uzunlar, Serdar Gökhan and Deniz Türkali. One of the most discussed scenes in this series was the dramatic rape scene in the first episode which broke the rating records. The series was well received by the audience and was among the top-rated series of the recent years. Saat received psychological support for this role together with some friends before playing the rape scene. The series was later contained among the items of the parliament's agenda because of its sexual scenes and a campaign was launched to stop the series' broadcast. A written statement was issued by several deputies of the Bundesrat of Germany supporting the series because of its emphasis on women's rights. After the series was broadcast in numerous countries around the world, Saat's face began to appear on the covers of magazines in different countries. After her portrayal of Fatmagül, a website published a video game on internet and converted her into one of its characters. During the game Saat could get dresses from a wardrobe that contained items such as clothes, shoes, wigs, etc. It was one of the most played games at the time of its publication. For her role in this series she was nominated for an Antalya Television Award in the Best Drama Series Actress category.