Bige Önal

Bige Önal was born on 1 February 1990 in Istanbul. Her father is Erhan Önal, a former football player who played for Bayern Munich and Galatasaray; her mother, Mine Baysan, is a former model. Her parents divorced when she was 9 years old. She graduated from Saint-Benoît French High School and later from Istanbul Bilgi University. Her first notable acting role came in 2010 as Yeliz in the youth series "Elde Var Hayat." She later appeared in the historical series "Muhteşem Yüzyıl" as Rita. Her breakthrough came with the role of Nazlı in the period series "Benim Adım Gültepe." In 2020 she starred in Netflix's "Hakan: Muhafız" (The Protector) as Berrin, and the same year gained wide recognition for playing Hayrunnisa in the series "Bir Başkadır" (Ethos), a drama about a village imam's daughter who seeks a college education and a life beyond her traditional upbringing. Other notable works include the series "Yeşilçam" and "Sen Ben Lenin." Besides acting, she worked as a production assistant on the film "New York'ta Beş Minare" (2010). She has never been officially married. For several years (roughly 2017 to 2022–2023) she was in a relationship with actor Aras Bulut İynemli; the couple broke up and reconciled more than once before finally separating. She has no children.