Renan Kanbay was born 4th of June 1989 in Germany/Bonn. Her father Derya works for the Turkish foreign affairs and her mother Suna is an educator. She has two older brothers Can and Tan Kanbay. She has a very varied upbringing traveling and receiving education for several schools in Europe. 2010 she moved to New York for her Masters in Film/TV and has since starred in Law and Order SVU, Happyish, Nerve and most recently she booked a role in Quantico Season 2 as a CIA recruit.

Renan is also a volunteer worker for animal foundations and has been an actor for the NYPD's Crisis Intervention Team teaching empathy to police officers.