Birce Akalay

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. 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. She graduated from theatre department of Pera Fine Arts High School in 2003. 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. 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. As of 2020, she is a lecturer at Haliç University's theatre department, teaching acting courses. 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. She had her first cinematic role in the same year with a part in the movie Son Ders: Aşk ve Üniversite. 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.

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.

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

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, 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.

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. In January 2020, she began portraying İlay in Star TV's series Babil. Akalay has also continued her career on stage and in 2020 appeared as "Zilha" in the play Keşanlı Ali Destanı. Her cousin, Barış Murat Yağcı, is also an actor.

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.