Bige Önal

Bige Önal — Biography

Bige Önal (born 1 February 1990, Istanbul) is a Turkish actress of television and film. Her father, Erhan Önal, was a professional footballer who played for Galatasaray and Bayern Munich, and her mother, Mine Baysan, is a former model; her parents divorced when she was nine. After attending the Saint-Benoît French high school, she graduated from the Cinema and Television department of Istanbul Bilgi University. She first appeared on sets while still in high school in the series Kısmetim Otel, and became widely noticed in 2010 as Yeliz in the youth series Elde Var Hayat.

She played Rita in the hit period drama Muhteşem Yüzyıl and achieved her breakthrough in 2014 as Nazlı in Benim Adım Gültepe. Roles in Maral: En Güzel Hikayem, Bodrum Masalı and the crime series Bozkır followed. In 2020 she earned wide acclaim as Hayrünnisa in the Netflix series Bir Başkadır (Ethos) and appeared in Sen Çal Kapımı. Her film work includes Martıların Efendisi, Sen Ben Lenin, On Saniye (2024) and Yan Yana (2025).