Cast

Hurrem Sultan - Meryem Uzerli
Haseki Sultan and legal wife of the Sultan, Mother of five of the Sultan's children

Meryem Uzerli was born on 12 August 1983 in Kassel, Germany. Her father Hüseyin isTurkish while her mother Ursula is German. She has two elder brothers and an elder sister, Canan who is a jazz musician. She studied acting at the Schauspielstudio Frese in Hamburg. Her best known part is asHürrem Sultan in the historical Television drama series Muhteşem Yüzyıl. She won the "Best Actress" Golden Butterfly award for this part in 2012. In 2013, she left the series due to health reasons and from episode 103, Vahide Perçin took her part as Hürrem Sultan.

Sultan Süleyman - Halit Ergenç

Halit Ergenç was born as the son of actor Sait Ergenç on 30 April 1970 in İstanbul. He completed his secondary education at Beşiktaş Atatürk High School in 1989 and enteredİstanbul Technical University to study Marine Engineering. He left after one year to study opera at Mimar Sinan University and supported himself working as a computer operator and marketer. He briefly worked as a backing vocalist and dancer for Ajda Pekkan andLeman Sam.

In 1996, Ergenç began acting at the Dormen Theatre and had his first leading role in the musical The King and I. He established himself on television with his part in the seriesKara Melek. He continued working in theatre with such plays as Kiss Me, Kate, Tatlı Charity, Beni Seviyor, Kral ve Ben, Amphitrion 2000, Evita, Hayalet and Ötekiler andŞarkılar Susarsa. Following appearances in the series Köşe Kapmaca and Böyle mi Olacaktı, he went to New York and acted in the musical The Adventures of Zak.

In 2000, he acted in the films Hiç Yoktan Aşk and Ölümün El Yazısı and then the series Dedem, Gofret ve Ben and Zerda where she starred opposite Ece Uslu. Then, he had appearances in a number of plays such as ''Bugün Git Yarın Gel, Popcorn, Arapsaçı andSevgilime Göz Kulak Ol. In 2004], he starred in the series Aliye with Sanem Çelik and Nejat İşler.

In 2005 and 2006, Ergenç acted in the films Babam ve Oğlum directed by Çağan Irmak, The Net 2.0, Tramway and İlk Aşk. Beginning in 2006, he starred as Onur Aksal in the hit series Binbir Gece which was on air until 2009. During this period he also had roles in the films Devrim Arabaları and Acı Aşk. Ergenç also starred as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the film Dersimiz Atatürk. He is currently starring in the hit series Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century)

Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha - Okan Yalabık

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and Hatice Sultan's husband

Born on December 13, 1978, Okan Yalabık decided to be an actor during his secondary school years. He was involved in the theatre club activities of his school and then he wanted to a have formal acting education, so he started İstanbul University State Conservatory, Department of Performing Arts. There he was educated by professionals, one of which was Yıldız Kenter, a Turkish actress.

After that, he started his professional career in TV series in 2000, with three major roles that followed. The first one was Serseri in 2003, where he played Ömer Yelkenci, a jobless but warm-hearted young man who fell in love with a rich girl and finally won her heart. In the 2006 Hatırla Sevgili, Okan played Necdet, a romantic, thoughtful and friendly man who owned a patisserie and who fell in love with a girl, who had unfortunately fallen for another man. Yalabık's most recent success of is Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha in Muhteşem Yüzyıl, which granted him the best actor award in 2011.

Yalabık also played in several films, the most recent of which are Pains of Autumn and Hunting Season. In 2011 Okan received the best co-starring actor award for his role (policeman Hasan) in Hunting Season.

As an actor who takes his profession very seriously, Okan has never fallen far from acting on the stage and since his years in the Conservatory, and has been taking part in some plays, among which are The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Dealer’s Choice, The 39 Stepsand finally Bayrak (The Flag), which is currently being staged in İstanbul. He received two awards in 2008 and 2009 for stage plays. In 39 Steps, he role-played more than 10 characters because of the special structure of the play.

Okan’s abilities are not limited with acting. He is also a voice actor. He played the main character Po in Turkish localizations of Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2 as well as taking part in the dubbing of a couple of other animations. He also played the Arabic and Colombian Walla in the 2011 PlayStation 3 game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. He is also known for being involved in numerous television advertisement campaigns.

Hatice Sultan (Khazina Sultan) - Selma Ergeç

Sultan Süleyman's younger sister, Ibrahim Pasha's wife

Selma Ergeç a Turkish-German actress, beauty pageant titleholder, model, designer, philologist, psychologist and doctor.

Born in Hamm, Germany, she studied medicine at Westfalia Wilhems University in Münster for 3 years and psychology and philosophy at the FernUniversität Hagen. She started modelling in 2000. She acted as Uğur Polat's wife in Sis ve Gece, as the teacher in Beş Vakit and as the Hatice Sultan in Muhteşem Yüzyıl. She speaks German, English,Turkish, French fluently and Italian with limited proficiency.