Filiz Ahmet (born 15 April 1981) is a Macedonian-Turkish stage and screen actress. She is best known for her roles as Zarife in the Turkish TV series ''Elveda Rumeli (Farewell Rumelia)'' and Nigar Kalfa in the TV series ''

Muhteşem Yüzyıl ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl'' (, ) is a Turkish historical fiction television series. Written by Meral Okay and Yılmaz Şahin, it is based on the life of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and his ...

''.

Early life

Filiz Ahmet was born in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

SR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

. She is of Turkish descent. Filiz Ahmet has dual Macedonian and Turkish citizenship. Her mother works as a prompter, while her grandfather, Lüftü Seyfullah, was a Macedonian of Turkish descent, stage actor and co-founder of the Macedonian-Turkish Theatre. The first play she watched in the theater was ''The Idiot'', based on the novel by the same name written by

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

. She developed a lifelong passion for theater, and was 6 when she first appeared on stage. Ahmet's childhood coincided with the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

. Due to the conflict, her family decided to go to Sweden, and later returned to Macedonia when she was 15. Filiz Ahmet graduated from medical school and then the Academy of Fine Arts in

in 2003. Ahmet is multilingual and is able to speak Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Swedish, English, Serbian, and Bulgarian.

Career

Ahmet began as a stage actress and received several performance awards. She did not plan to act on-screen, and her busy theater schedule allowed little time for anything else. However, her breakthrough performance occurred in 2007 when she appeared in the role of Zarife in the series ''Elveda Rumeli''. To make her character more expressive, Ahmet spoke her role in the Turkish dialect in Macedonia. After this series, she received offers in various television series. Her next project was ''Balkan Wedding'', where she took the role of Galina in 2009.

''Magnificent Century''

In 2010, Ahmet received the role of Nigar Kalfa in a primetime historical Turkish television series, ''

'' (''The Magnificent Century''). The show was very successful in the Balkan region and Turkey, and was broadcast in 45 countries. The series had 204 million viewers worldwide. Her work with ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl'' brought her positive responses and acclaim from critics.

Filmography

Movies

Series

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmet, Filiz 1981 births Living people Actresses from Skopje Macedonian people of Turkish descent Turkish stage actresses Macedonian stage actresses Turkish television actresses Macedonian television actresses 21st-century Turkish actresses