Bige Önal

Bige Önal — Biography

Bige Önal is an actress who broke through as Nazlı in Benim Adım Gültepe and drew critical and audience attention with her role as Hayrünnisa in Bir Başkadır. Her path from youth series to digital-platform productions has widened into film in recent years, with parts in On Saniye (2024) and Yan Yana (2025).

The daughter of former footballer Erhan Önal, she attended the Saint-Benoît French High School and then studied cinema and television at Istanbul Bilgi University. She first worked on a set while still at school, in Kısmetim Otel. Recognition came in 2010 with Yeliz in Elde Var Hayat and Didem in Halil İbrahim Sofrası; she then played Rita in Muhteşem Yüzyıl and Justine in Yasak. After 2014 she was seen as Alara Görkem in Maral: En Güzel Hikayem, Didem in Göç Zamanı and Lal in Bodrum Masalı.

From 2018 she moved toward darker productions: Tehlikeli Karım, Bozkır and Netflix's first Turkish original, Hakan: Muhafız. Bir Başkadır and Sen Çal Kapımı belong to the same period, and she later joined Yeşilçam and Erşan Kuneri. In film, Martıların Efendisi, Sen Ben Lenin and On Saniye stand out; in 2010 she also worked as a production assistant on New York'ta Beş Minare.