Leya Kırşan

Her early debut in Istanbul

Leya Kırşan first stepped onto a television set in 2014. She was six years old when she played Ecem in the series Hayat Yolunda. It was a tough start that shaped her childhood among cameras and the technical scripts of the Turkish industry.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2015, she landed the role of Elif in Eve Dönüş. In this project, the young actress carried the dramatic weight of a family revenge plot without stunt doubles. But the Istanbul market demands pace, and she went straight into filming Adı Efsane in 2017 with a poise unusual for her age.

The weight of the Ottoman crown

Her big break into major period productions came in 2017. Kırşan joined the cast of Payitaht Abdülhamid to play Şadiye Sultan. She spent three years filming this drama about the last powerful sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Sixty-five episodes later, her face was a fixture on national television. But she didn't want to be stuck in palace drama.

In 2018, the actress traded silk gowns for the forest in Tozkoparan. She played Elif, a young archer in a youth adventure series. The shoot required different physical preparation because the action scenes called for real archery skills.

The series ran until 2020 and spawned a sequel titled Tozkoparan İskender, in which she kept her role.

It wasn't all easy on those sets.

Juggling textbooks with ten-hour shooting days forced the production to set up study areas behind the cameras. In 2021, she ended her run in youth fiction to take on roles with greater political and physical demands.

The industry waits for no one.

Her addition to Kuruluş: Osman in 2023 marked her return to big-budget epic filmmaking. She plays Fatma Hatun, the protagonist's daughter. Her contract for this production included intensive horseback riding training and choreographed sword combat.

In 2024, the actress remains tied to the production company Bozdağ Film under a strict television exclusivity arrangement. Filming for the fifth season was centered at the Riva film complex, on the outskirts of Istanbul.