Özlem Yılmaz

Özlem Yılmaz — Biography

From 2006 to 2022 Turkish actress Özlem Yılmaz worked mostly in television series. She became widely known through her roles in Unutulmaz, Kaçak and Kara Ekmek. After some sixteen years of acting she announced in 2022 that she was leaving the profession.

Her family is originally from Rize, but she was born and raised in Istanbul, and she studied at Kartaltepe Primary School, Kültür College and Ataköy Republic High School. Acting had been her dream since childhood, and she began taking lessons from Müşfik Kenter; she paused her studies when she lost her father, entered the Müjdat Gezen Art School a year later and graduated from the Müjdat Gezen Actor Studio in 2006. She took her first step in the same year with the series Karagümrük Yanıyor.

Her career can be read in three phases. In the first she appeared in series such as Felek Ne Demek?, Rüyalarda Buluşuruz, Dicle, Zoraki Koca, Servet Avcısı and Unutulmaz (2009-2010). The second brought Dedektif Memoli and Kaçak (2013-2014); her role as Princess Cise in Kudret Sabancı's film Karaoğlan was her first and only cinema experience. In 2015 she played Asiye in Kara Ekmek. In the last phase she acted in Emanet, Ağlama Anne (2018) and Kuyudaki Taş (2020).