Sıla Şahin

Sıla Şahin — Biography

German actress and model Sıla Şahin, who is of Turkish descent, is best known in Germany for playing Ayla Özgül on the long-running soap opera Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten. Since her marriage she has also used the surname Şahin-Radlinger. She works in television, film and theatre, and her awards include a German Soap Award.

She was born in the Spandau district of West Berlin, the daughter of an actor of Turkish-Kurdish origin, and speaks four languages: German, Kurdish, Turkish and English. Her fame grew with the Ayla Özgül character; she later appeared in the series Verbotene Liebe and took part in Germany's dance competition Let's Dance. Alongside acting, she has worked as a model.

In May 2011 she appeared on the cover of German Playboy, becoming the first woman of Turkish origin to be on the magazine's cover. Some conservative members of her family reacted badly to the decision, while in the magazine's interview she described the step as an act of liberation, saying that she grew up in a conservative setting that made her desire for freedom extremely strong. Her life story was adapted for a ZDF television film in 2017. She married the Austrian goalkeeper Samuel Radlinger in June 2016; the couple have two sons, and the family lives in Germany.