Özgü Namal

Özgü Namal — Biography

Melahat Özgü Namal, born on 28 December 1978 in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul, is a Turkish actress and presenter. She has appeared in television series and feature films since the late 1990s and, playing leads in popular series as well as taking part in festival-awarded independent productions, has become one of Turkey's best-known actresses.

She completed her secondary schooling at Üsküdar Cumhuriyet High School and then graduated from the theatre department of the Istanbul University State Conservatory. She also took acting and dance training at the Kadıköy Public Education Centre and the Müjdat Gezen Theatre. Her professional stage experience began in 1997 with children's plays staged at the Masal Gerçek Theatre, and the following year she moved to television with the series Affet Bizi Hocam. After the television work she kept up during her conservatory years, a wide audience came to know her through Duru, the character she played in the series Yeditepe İstanbul (2001).

Her television breakthrough came with the role of Elif Eylül in the series Kurtlar Vadisi (2003). The character of Güllü in Hanımın Çiftliği (2009), a production that broke viewing records, placed her among the most talked-about actresses in Turkey. In the following years she played Ümit in the series Koyu Kırmızı (2012) and Narin in Merhamet (2013).

In cinema she drew attention as Zeynep in Sır Çocukları (2002), and went on to appear in productions of widely differing kinds such as Büyü (2004), Organize İşler (2005), Anlat İstanbul (2005) and Beynelmilel (2006). For the character of Meryem in the 2007 film Mutluluk she won the Best Actress award at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. She then acted in the films O... Çocukları (2008), Güneşin Oğlu (2008), İncir Çekirdeği (2009) and Bu İşte Bir Yalnızlık Var (2013).

In the 2014-2015 season she served as a jury member on the competition programme Yetenek Sizsiniz Türkiye. She returned to the screen with the roles of Meryem Tezel in the series Kızıl Goncalar (2023) and Seniha Paşazade in Kıskanmak (2025). In Sarı Zarflar (2026), directed by İlker Çatak, she played Derya; the production, which came back from the Berlin Film Festival with the Golden Bear, was nominated in nine categories at the German Film Awards.