Saruhan Hünel

Saruhan Hünel — Biography

Born on 7 January 1970 in Istanbul, Muharrem Saruhan Hünel comes from a family with Arab roots from Baghdad on his mother's side and Albanian roots from Thessaloniki on his father's side; his father, Mehmet Fevzi Hünel, was a Turkish dance champion, and his sister, Aslı Hünel, is a singer and television host. Raised in Edirnekapı, Hünel finished a Textile Vocational High School and was admitted to Marmara University's Business Administration department, but left after signing with a modeling agency.

Hünel began acting in the early 1990s, making his television debut in 1992 with Gündüzün Karanlığı and his film debut in 1993 with Yasak Sokaklar. He became widely known for playing the character Tilki in the series Aynalı Tahir, and went on to appear in Kaybolan Yıllar and Karagül, as well as the 2016 film Somuncu Baba: Aşkın Sırrı, in which he played Abdurrahman Erzincani. Between 2019 and 2020 he reached a broad audience playing Alişar in the historical drama Kuruluş Osman.

Hünel married producer Sergin Akyaz in 2003; the couple divorced in 2010. His father died of coronavirus, and his mother passed away in 2025 — losses that he and his sister Aslı Hünel have occasionally spoken about publicly since.