Nihal Yalçın

Nihal Yalçın — Biography

Nihal Yalçın was born on 29 March 1981 in Istanbul to an Alevi-Zaza family who had resettled there from Dersim, a district of Tunceli, ahead of her birth. She trained as an actress at Istanbul University's State Conservatory, graduating in 2004, then completed a master's in Advanced Acting at Bahçeşehir University and spent a period working as a voice-over artist. She made her screen debut in 2005 playing Zeyno Bacı in Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü?, and took further parts in Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu, Şöhret Okulu, Avrupa Yakası, Güldünya and Kış Masalı. Her role as Açılay in Yalan Dünya made her far more widely known starting in 2012, the same year a Sadri Alışık award for best supporting actress recognized her work in Kurtuluş Son Durak, and a Golden Boll Film Festival prize in that category honored her parts in both Araf and Yeraltı, the latter also bringing her a citation from the Turkish Film Critics' Association. Her 2015 one-woman stage piece Antabus earned her Actress of the Year at the Afife Theatre Awards. Further credits followed in Berlin Kaplanı, Yol Ayrımı, Beş Kardeş, İstanbullu Gelin, Kırmızı Oda and Oğlum, and a lead part in Zuhal brought her best actress honors at the 2019 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, ahead of her turn as Berfin in the 2025 series Sakıncalı.