Birce Akalay

Birce Akalay
Akalay posing for an interview with Cumhuriyet during the promotion of Keşanlı Ali Destanı in 2020 (photo by Vedat Arık)
Born	(1984-06-19) 19 June 1984 (age 39) Istanbul, Turkey
Education	Haliç University Conservatory
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006–present
Spouses	Murat Ünalmış ​ ​ (m. 2011;div. 2012)​ Sarp Levendoğlu ​ ​ (m. 2014;div. 2017)​

Birce Akalay (born 19 June 1984) is one of the most beautiful and famous women in the Turkish acting industry, who has made a name for herself internationally. She has appeared in over 20 films and TV series, gaining popularity for her beauty and excellent performances. She has also presented sports on national television in Turkey and anchored many programs, making her name associated with sports and TV anchoring for about five years. She is also multi-talented: she draws, paints, writes, and used to do ballet but had to quit due to a knee injury. Projects such as the series 'Yer Gök Aşk' and the renowned play '7 Kocalı Hürmüz,' directed by Müjdat Gezen, are among her notable works. However, it was in 2017, playing the doctor Asli Çinar alongside actor Ibrahim Çelikkol, that she achieved her most successful series, 'Siyah Beyaz Aşk,' which became famous not only in Europe but also in several countries in the Americas. In 2020, she had leading role in the famous play Keşanlı Ali Destanı and portrayed the character of Zilha. At the same time, she continued her career on television with leading role in Star TV's series Babil, which premiered in January 2020. ^[1] In 2022, she starred alongside actor İbrahim Çelikkol again in the Netflix series Kuş Uçuşu (As The Crow Flies),which is currently in its third season.

Life and career

Akalay was born on 19 June 1984 in Istanbul. She started ballet at the age of four and was injured at the age of sixteen. ^[2] She graduated from theatre department of Pera Fine Arts High School in 2003. ^[3] She then enrolled in Istanbul University with a major in theatre analysis but left the school at third grade to pursue her dream of becoming a theatre actress. ^[3] Since she had reached the age of twenty, she lost the chance to win a place in state conservatory but instead won a seat in Haliç University Conservatory for theatre studies and finished her education there. ^[3] As of 2020, she is a lecturer at Haliç University's theatre department, teaching acting courses. ^[4] In 2004, she competed in Miss Turkey and finished in the 3rd place. Subsequently, she represented her country in Miss Europe.

In 2007, she made her television debut with a supporting role in the hit series Asi . ^[3] She had her first cinematic role in the same year with a part in the movie Son Ders: Aşk ve Üniversite . ^[3] She got her first leading role in television with the series Kader, playing the character of Lamia, and was then cast in the series Senin Uğruna in the same year. ^[3]

After playing supporting roles in Alayına İsyan and Kış Masalı in 2009, her breakthrough came with her role as Havva in 2010 series Yer Gök Aşk, which was well received by critics and fans. ^[3]

In 2013, she portrayed Ayhan Aydan in historical series Ben Onu Çok Sevdim based on the life of Prime Minister of Turkey Adnan Menderes. ^[3]

She continued her TV career with roles in child series Küçük Ağa (2014–2015), where she acted alongside Sarp Levendoğlu, who later became her husband. Also starred rom-com Evli ve Öfkeli (2015–2016) and youth series Hayat Bazen Tatlıdır (2016–2017). In 2017, she starred as Asli Çinar alongside actor Ibrahim Çelikkol in Siyah Beyaz Aşk ^[3] , which was a huge success, leading the pair to garner a legion of fans not only from Turkey but also from other countries.

After playing a leading role in the TV series Ağlama Anne in late 2018, she didn't appear in any productions for 1 year. ^{[5] [6]}

In the meantime, she started teaching as a lecturer at Haliç University Theater Department and took part in the music program Benimle Söyle as the chief judge. ^[3] In January 2020, she began portraying İlay in Star TV's series Babil. ^[1] Akalay has also continued her career on stage and in 2020 appeared as "Zilha" in the play Keşanlı Ali Destanı. ^[1] Her cousin, Barış Murat Yağcı, is also an actor. ^[7]

In 2022, Birce Akalay starred in two Netflix series: 'Mezarlik' as Önem and 'Kuş Uçuşu' (As The Crow Flies) as Lale Kiran. In the latter, she reunited with her former co-star Ibrahim Çelilkkol. These two series marked her first major projects, and with the help of Netflix's global audience, Birce Akalay's fame quickly rose. 'Kuş Uçuşu' has already aired its 2nd and 3rd seasons. ^[8]

Filmography

Film

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Son Ders: Aşk ve Üniversite	Sevim	Supporting role
2009	Sizi Seviyorum	Eda
	Nefes: Vatan Sağolsun	Zeynep
2013	Re-Era	Scientist 1	Short film
2016	Deliormanlı	Hülya	Leading role
2024	Zaferin Rengi	Halide Edib Adıvar

Web series

Web Series
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2021	Dijital Sahne: Hırçın Kız	Kate	Leading role of Episode
2022–present	Kuş Uçuşu	Lale Kıran	Leading role
	Mezarlık	Önem Özülkü

TV series

TV Series
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Asi	Zeynep	Supporting role
2007	Kader	Lamia	Leading role
2007	Senin Uğruna	Özlem
2009	Alayına İsyan	Sevtap
2009	Kış Masalı	Zişan	Supporting role
2010–2012	Yer Gök Aşk	Havva Karagül	Leading role
2013	Böyle Bitmesin	Aylin	Guest
2013	Ben Onu Çok Sevdim	Ayhan Aydan	Leading role
2014–2015	Küçük Ağa	Sinem Acar
2015–2016	Evli ve Öfkeli	Esra
2016–2017	Hayat Bazen Tatlıdır	Hayat Sarıyaz
2017–2018	Siyah Beyaz Aşk	Aslı Çınar Aslan
2018	Ağlama Anne	Alev Fırıncıoğlu
2020	Babil	İlay Yücedağ
2021	Son Yaz	Sare Akay
2023	Bir Derdim Var	Dr. Nilüfer Toska

TV programs

Programs
Year	Title	Notes
2004–2006	Spor Gecesi	Presenter
2005	Şampiyonlar Ligi Finali	Presenter (Turkish version)
	Şampiyonlar Ligi Özel	Presenter
2006	8. Etap	Presenter
2009	Sinema Dünyası	Presenter
2019	Benimle Söyle	Judge

Commercial

Commercial
year	Company/Product	Notes
2014	Johnson & Johnson
	Orkid
	Algida	Summer campaign
2021	Şölen Boombastic Fantastik Bar	As a voiceover
2022	Lancôme	Advertising face
	Neutrogena	Brand face
	Dagi
2023	Versace	Advertising face
	Jack Daniel's	Brand face

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Writer	Director	Notes
2017–2019	Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz [9]	Hürmüz	Sadık Şendil	Müjdat Gezen
2020	Keşanlı Ali Destanı [10]	Zilha	Haldun Taner	Yücel Erten
2021	The Taming of the Shrew [11]	Katherina (Kate) Minola	William Shakespeare	İbrahim Çiçek

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2017	Barrier-Free Life Foundation 8th Bests of the Year Awards	Best Theatre Actress	Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz	Won	[12]
2018	9th Karadeniz Technical University (KTÜ) Media Awards	Best Actress	Siyah Beyaz Aşk	Won
	Istanbul University 1453 Awards	Best Actress of the Year		Won
	2nd Bosphorus Awards	Most Successful Actress		Won
	45th Golden Butterfly Awards	Best Actress		Nominated	[13]
2019	Okan University Bests of the Year Awards	Best TV Actress	Ağlama Anne	Won	[14] [15]
	2nd Best of Rumeli Awards	Best Actress		Won	[16]
2020	3rd International İzmir Artemis Film Festival	Best Actress (TV series)	Babil	Nominated
2021	We Asked the Students Project Awards	Best Actress		Won
2022	6th Distinctive International Arab Festivals Awards	International Actress of the Year	Kuş Uçuşu Mezarlık	Won	[17]

References

1. "Birce Akalay ile pazar sohbeti". Cumhuriyet . 24 February 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
2. "Bir deneyim başarısızlıkla sonuçlandı diye neden evrenin mucizelerine kendimi kapatayım? Aşk dünyanın en güzel şeyi..." Hürriyet. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
3. "Birce Akalay kimdir? Güzel oyuncu kaç yaşında, nerede doğdu? İşte Birce Akalay'ın az bilinenleri". Sözcü . 23 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
4. "Tiyatro Bölümü Öğretim Görevlimiz Birce Akalay'ın Rektörümüz Sayın Melih Bulu'yu Ziyareti". Haliç University. 11 May 2020. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
5. "Güzelliğini ondan almış! İşte Ağlama Anne dizisinde oynayan Birce Akalay'ın annesi". Olay.com.tr. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
6. "Ayhan Aydan'ı oynamak zormuş | STAR". 19 November 2013.
7. "Birce Akalay, Kuzeni Barış Murat Yağcı'nın Sitemini Duyunca Suratı Asıldı". Haberler.com. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
8. "Birce Akalay: A Nobel Personality and a Fascinating Beauty | Celebrities". DoYouKnowTurkey. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
9. "7 Kocalı Hürmüz | tiyatrolar.com.tr". tiyatrolar.com.tr. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
10. "Keşanlı Ali Destanı | tiyatrolar.com.tr". tiyatrolar.com.tr. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
11. "Dijital Sahne #7 : Hırçın Kız". Zorlu Performing Arts Center. 18 February 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
12. "Engelsiz Yaşam Vakfı 'Yılın En İyileri'ni seçti". Habertürk. 16 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
13. "45. Pantene Altın Kelebek'te Final Turu Başladı!". turkiyehaberajansi.com. 30 November 2018. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
14. "Yılın En'leri Ödüllerimiz sahiplerini buldu - İstanbul Okan Üniversitesi". okan.edu.tr. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
15. "OKAN'DA YILIN ENLERİ 2018". okanedu. 13 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
16. "Best Of Rumeli" Ödülleri Sahiplerini Buldu". haberler.com. 22 April 2019. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
17. "Birce Akalay Dubai'de ödül aldı". Hürriyet. 6 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.

18. https://www.kanald.com.tr/siyah-beyaz-ask Birce and Ibrahim in Syiah Beyaz Ask

External links

• Birce Akalay at IMDb
• Birce Akalay on Instagram