Gizem Karaca

Gizem Karaca was born on September 7, 1992, in Istanbul, Turkey. Her mother, Münevver Karaca, is of Albanian descent, and her father, Cüneyt Karaca, is a descendant of immigrants from Thessaloniki. Gizem spent her childhood in the USA and Canada, where her family moved when she was young. She completed primary school in the US, middle school in Canada, and returned to Turkey for high school. After graduating, she enrolled in the French Language and Literature department at Istanbul University. Besides her native Turkish, she is fluent in English and French, and plays the piano and violin. Gizem's acting career began after she participated in the Miss Turkey 2011 competition, where she placed second and won the "Best National Costume" award at Miss World. In 2012, she made her debut in a leading role in the series "Eve Düşen Yıldırım". The same year, she played the role of Güneş Sancaktar in "Adını Feriha Koydum: Emir'in Yolu". After the project was cancelled, she went to New York to study at the New York Film Academy. In 2013, she returned to screens with a leading role in "Benim Hala Umudum Var". In 2014, she starred in her first film "Seni Seviyorum Adamım" and also landed a leading role in the series "Güzel Köylü". She later appeared in "İstanbul Sokakları" (2016), "İçimdeki Fırtına" (2017), "Kara Sevda" (2017, as Commissioner Mercan), "İnsanlık Suçu" (2018), "Şampiyon" (2020), "Baraj" (2020-2021), "Alparslan: Büyük Selçuklu" (2021-2022, as Evdokya), and "Safir" (2023-2024, as Güneş Açıkalın). Her film credits include "Ay Lav Yu Tuu" (2017), "Hürkuş: Göklerdeki Kahraman" (2018), "Özür Dilerim" (2023), and others. Gizem Karaca enjoys painting, photography, horse riding, dancing (including lyrical dance and tango), tennis, swimming, reading, and walking. Gizem Karaca has been married to businessman Kemal Ekmekçi since 2017. The couple has a daughter, Meral Ekmekçi, born in 2024.