Şahan Gökbakar

Şahan Gökbakar — Biography

Şahan Gökbakar was born on 22 October 1980 in İzmir. He completed his schooling in Ankara and, after entering Bilkent University's Faculty of Music and Performing Arts in 1998, graduated from its theatre department in 2002 before settling in Istanbul. He first appeared on television with the show 'Zıbın' on TV8, but his real breakthrough came from the Recep İvedik character he created with Alper Mestçi for the sketch show 'Dikkat Şahan Çıkabilir'.

Gökbakar made his film debut in the 2006 movie Gen, then took the lead role in the first Recep İvedik film in 2008, going on to carry the franchise through seven installments; its fifth entry became the highest-grossing and most-watched production in Turkish cinema history. He also created other comic characters in films such as Osman Pazarlama, Celal ile Ceren and Kayhan, and stepped behind the camera to direct Zengo in 2020.

In January 2026 it was announced that the eighth Recep İvedik film would premiere on Disney+; Gökbakar continues to work on the project as writer, producer and star, and has frequently collaborated with his brother, director Togan Gökbakar.