Tuba Buyukustun

About Tuba Buyukustun

Early years and education life
She was born in Istanbul on July 5, 1982. She is of Crimean origin from her mother's side and Cretan origin from her father's side. She graduated from Istanbul Private Doğuş Schools and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Stage Decorations and Costume Design. While studying at university, she took part in commercials. After graduating from university, she started acting thanks to director Tomris Giritlioğlu.
Career Life
In 2003, she started her television acting career by appearing in the last 4 episodes of the TV series Sultan Makamı, directed by Aydın Bulut and broadcast on Kanal D. She played in the music video for Kenan Doğulu's song Tanımışsın. In 2004, she made a name for herself by portraying the character "Zarife" in the TV series Çemberimde Gül Oya, directed by Çağan Irmak and broadcast on Kanal D. The same year, Büyüküstün portrayed the character "Gülizar" in the TV movie Gülizar, directed by Cemal Şan, and received the Best Actress Award at the Serbia-Montenegro International TV Festival Bar for this role. In 2005, she made her big debut by sharing the lead role with Bülent İnal and Sinan Tuzcu in the TV series Ihlamurlar Altında, directed by Aydın Bulut and broadcast on Kanal D. The same year, she worked with Çağan Irmak once again and stepped into cinema by portraying the character "Aysun" in the movie Babam ve Oğlum. In 2006, Büyüküstün starred in the movie Sınav directed by Ömer Faruk Sorak, and had the opportunity to work with the famous actor Jean-Claude Van Damme in this movie. In 2007, she shared the lead role with Murat Yıldırım and Çetin Tekindor in the TV series Asi, which was shot in Antakya, directed by Cevdet Mercan and broadcast on Kanal D. In the same years, she gained great fame in the Middle East with the TV series Çemberimde Gül Oya, Ihlamurlar Altında, and Asi being broadcast on Arab television, and she played an important role in exporting Turkish TV series abroad. The TV series Asi, in which she played the lead role, was nominated for the Best Soap Opera category at the 51st Monte-Carlo Television Festival with its ratings in 67 countries. In 2010, she played her first leading role in the movie Yüreğine Sor directed by Yusuf Kurçenli. Later, between 2010-2011, she shared the leading role in the series called Gönülçelen, which was broadcast on ATV, alongside Cansel Elçin. In early 2013, she returned to the screens after a 1.5-year hiatus by sharing the leading role in the series called 20 Dakika, which started broadcasting on Star TV, alongside İlker Aksum. With her role in the series 20 Dakika, she was nominated for the Best Actress category at the 42nd International Emmy Awards, becoming the first Turkish actress to be nominated for an Emmy. Büyüküstün, who was selected as the Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF Türkiye in 2014, shared the leading role in the series Kara Para Aşk, which started broadcasting on ATV in March 2014, alongside Engin Akyürek. She won the Stars of Export award for her role in the series Kara Para Aşk, and was also chosen as the Best Actress at the 14th International Giuseppe Sciacca Awards for this role and her philanthropy. In the last months of 2015, she focused on cinema and took part in the short films Orman, Rüzgarın Hatıraları and Dar Elbise. In 2016, Büyüküstün, who starred in the famous director Ferzan Özpetek's İstanbul Kırmızısı with actors such as Halit Ergenç, Mehmet Günsür, and Nejat İşler, shared the leading role with Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ in the series Cesur ve Güzel, which started in November and was broadcast on Star TV. In 2020, she portrayed "Mara Hatun" in the series Rise of Empires: Ottoman, which was broadcast on the internet platform Netflix. Again, in 2020, she guest-starred in the series Menajerimi Ara, which was broadcast on Star TV, portraying herself, and returned to TV screens after a 4-year hiatus. In 2021, she joined the series Sefirin Kızı, starring Engin Akyürek and Neslihan Atagül, on Star TV, as the lead role after Neslihan Atagül left the series due to health problems, and played the character of "Mavi". In 2022, she played the role of "Ada" in the series Zeytin Ağacı, which was released on Netflix. In 2021, she took part in the commercial film shot in collaboration with MegaFon, which holds 80 percent of the Russian telecommunications market, and Apple. The shooting was completed in two days after the crew arrived in Türkiye.
Personal life
She married actor Onur Saylak in Paris, France, on July 28, 2011. She gave birth to twin daughters on January 19, 2012. She named them "Toprak" and "Maya". Their marriage ended on June 5, 2017.

As of June 2025, she has amassed 6.2 million followers on her Instagram platform.