Özlem Türay

Nimet Özlem Türay was born on 11 September 1981 in Izmir. She completed her primary and secondary education in Izmir. In 2000 she enrolled in the theatre department of the Faculty of Language, History and Geography at Ankara University, graduating in 2004. She came to theatre at a young age: at 14 she joined the İzmir Karşıyaka Theatre Workshop, appearing in numerous productions. She taught acting and staged plays at the Association for the Protection of Street Children. In 1999, preparing for entrance exams, she took acting and voice lessons under Harika Lafçıoğlu. In 2001, together with five friends she met at university, she founded the theatre group Mahşer-i Cümbüş, which staged the first improvisational theatre production in Turkey. She appeared in the TRT children's program "Benimle Oynar mısın?" (2004) and the TV show "Anında Görüntü Show" as part of the Mahşer-i Cümbüş team. She performed in the plays "Kadınlar da Savaşı Yitirdi" (2002, for which she also composed music), "Kafkas Tebeşir Dairesi" (2003), an adaptation of "Hamlet" (2004) in which she played the title role, and "İki Efendinin Uşağı" (2004). In film and television she has appeared in "Halil İbrahim Sofrası" (2010, as Ayşegül), "7 Avlu" (2010), "20 Dakika" (2013, as Esma), "Küçük Ağa" (2014, as Hamiyet), "İnşaat 2" (2014), "Hayat Şarkısı" (2016–2017, as Emine Çamoğlu), "Lise Devriyesi" (2017, as teacher Ürengül), "Dolunay" (2017, as İkbal), "Çukur," "Kırmızı Oda" (2020), "Gelsin Hayat Bildiği Gibi," "Müjdemi İsterim" (2022), and the TV film "Umami" (2025). She continues to teach theatre at a private college.