Saruhan Hünel

Saruhan Hünel — Biography

Tilki Ekrem in the series Aynalı Tahir remains Saruhan Hünel's best-remembered role; the Turkish actor had moved from modeling into television. Since 1992 his career has run from family-centered series to historical productions; in recent years he has appeared in productions such as Arka Sokaklar and Arjen, and he plays Orhan Karahan in the 2026 film Yasak Aşkın Günahı.

Hünel grew up in Edirnekapı; his father, Mehmet Fevzi Hünel, was a Turkish dance champion and his sister, Aslı Hünel, is a singer. After Textile Vocational High School he won a place in Marmara University's business program, but dropped out once he signed with an agency and began modeling. The director Özdemir Birsel liked his work and cast him in his projects. His first steps came on television in 1992 with Gündüzün Karanlığı and in cinema in 1993 with Yasak Sokaklar and Ufukta Bir Ağaç; he then played the butcher of the neighborhood in Kaygısızlar. His real breakthrough was Aynalı Tahir, followed by Melek, Kaybolan Yıllar, Serçe and Araf Zamanı. He played Kenan Güner in Karagül and Abdurrahman Erzincani in the film Somuncu Baba: Aşkın Sırrı, and in 2019-2020 he reached a new generation of viewers as Alişar Bey in Kuruluş Osman.

He shared the screen with Yeşim Büber in both Aynalı Tahir and Kaybolan Yıllar, and the latter also made him known in Bulgaria and the Arab world. He married the producer Sergin Akyaz in 2003; the couple divorced in 2010.