Engin Benli

Engin Benli — Biography

Wide audiences know Engin Benli best as Chief Inspector Orhan in the series Kanıt; the Turkish actor comes from a theater background. He has been on stage with the Kocaeli City Theatre since its founding, and he also works in television and film, most recently in series such as Hudutsuz Sevda.

In his youth he worked as a factory hand, market vendor, model and marketer, trained in kung fu and boxing, and played licensed basketball for Göztepe. After his mother reached the director of the İzmir State Theatre, he prepared for conservatory entrance exams and graduated from the State Conservatory of Anadolu University in 1995, studying under teachers such as Ergin Orbey, Engin Cezzar and Alpay İzbırak. He began his stage career at the Ankara State Theatre and was a trainee artist at the Bursa State Theatre from 1995 to 1997. In 1997 he was among the first actors to join the Kocaeli City Theatre, founded by Işıl Kasapoğlu, and he stayed more than twenty years.

On screen, films such as Polis (2007) and Kırık Midyeler (2011) came first, and Kanıt (2010-2013) was the turning point. He went on to play Zafer in Poyraz Karayel, Artem in Göç Zamanı, Sinan Paşa in Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem and the doctor in the film Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi. He joined Diriliş: Ertuğrul as Alıncak in 2019 and Eşkıya Dünyaya Hükümdar Olmaz as Yaman Korkmaz in 2020, and played Muzaffer in Creature.