Özge Gürel’s talent and inner beauty between real life and her most iconic characters

Özge Gürel’s talent and inner beauty between real life and her most iconic characters

The world of entertainment is full of beautiful girls and shining actresses, who have brilliant acting skills and a good physical aspect, which knows how to attract the spectators, exploiting the charm of conventional beauty, showing flashy sensuality and stereotyped, artificial behaviours.

That is usual in the show business, where frankness isn’t often appreciated and the importance of authenticity is located in the last place; the appearances and the homologation dominate the context, well demonstrating the general falsity of mankind.

Luckily, there is a girl who has the courage not to compromise, by following her ideals and her real personality, remaining herself, at the cost of arousing envy and criticisms.

This miracle of immediacy and simplicity is called Özge Gürel.

In spite of her discretion, she doesn’t go unnoticed: her deep interiority is rare, special, her gracefulness is atypical, far from our times, to the point that she is compared to Audrey Hepburn, because she is capable of donating to dreary modernity the privilege of pure elegance, without vacuous exhibitionisms.

Özge uses social networks not to show off, but to support her friends and colleagues and their projects, proving herself as a model of loyalty and devotion, and she doesn’t hesitate to take sides in important humanitarian issues.

Above all on Twitter, she expresses her fair opinions about feminism, wars and gender discrimination, and she is often a social campaign ambassador to help charities linked to the fight against cancer, unfortunate animals or children with serious illnesses: on the occasion of her last birthday, she has raised money for a child affected by Sma and has donated food and shelters to a kennel; moreover, she is always ready to thank her loving fans, enchanted by her sincerity and generosity.

By virtue of these noble deeds, Özge Gürel is considered an icon of kindness, an example of inner beauty for many people; she avoids vulgarity and common schemes and never gives up on spontaneity, both when she plays a role and when she talks about herself.

She proves an indefatigable enthusiasm in every situation and her genuine curiosity allows her to always get involved in new exciting projects, in which important teachings are ready to be conveyed, thanks to the power of a natural identification with the interpreted character.

Özge Gürel as Ezgi Inal. (2020). [Photo]. https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp8747136.jpg

 Brief Biography of Özge Gürel

Özge Gürel was born on February 5th 1987 in Istanbul.

After university studies, she approaches acting and becomes famous thanks to the series Cherry Season (the original title is “Kiraz Mevsimi”), from which she conquers an international public.

All her characters have an unmistakable identity, whose purpose is to preserve and support the unrepeatability of individuals, and Özge gives to them politeness of her talent, hypnotizing anyone has the honour to meet her through her girls, as mirrors of her soul.

They are the key to access Özge’s way of being, women who face society and its prejudges and put first resourcefulness, altruism, kindness and coherence in their opinions and behaviours, which emerge in different narrated situations, from films to television series, from dramatic moments to romantic and comic ones.

These young women have peculiar human qualities and, at the same time, these traits make special their normality, so that they dwell the everyday life, but you can clearly distinguish their angelical, unusual presence.

It is impossible not to fall in love with Özge and her refined roles.

Let’s know better the most celebrated and significant ones, listing them in chronological order.

 

Öykü Açar (“Kiraz Mevsimi/ Cherry Season”, 2014-2015)

Öykü Açar, the female protagonist of Cherry Season, doesn’t represent Özge Gürel’s debut in the television world, but she is the first character who consecrates the actress as a heroine of romantic comedies, spreading her image in Turkey and abroad.

Öykü is a young girl who attends university and dreams to become a famed stylist: she has modest origins and lives in a popular district of Istanbul with her mother and her younger brother.

This character catches the spectator by its freshness and sweetness, Öykü doesn’t know what malice is, nor she doesn’t know to discern honest people from liar ones.

Öykü’s naivety intrigues Ayaz Dinçer, the male protagonist of the series (interpreted by Serkan Çayoğlu), a vicious, rich, handsome boy, and, after many obstacles, they succeed in being together; in spite of the fortunate situation, Öykü doesn’t let herself to be influenced by it and becomes a talented stylist thanks to her cleverness only, proving the value of personal determination.

Özge Gürel as Öykü Açar. (2015). [Photo]. https://iv1.lisimg.com/image/13747814/560full-ozge-gurel.jpg

Bahar (“Ilk Öpücük”, 2017)

Ilk Öpücük is a movie, the Turkish remake of the American film “First Kiss”, belonging to the romantic genre.

It is set in Bursa and the male protagonist Hakan Taşyapar (played by Murat Yıldırım) is a vet who leads a degenerate and inconstant love life, unable to create a solid relationship with a woman.

His sad routine is interrupted by Bahar, a sort of saving epiphany, whose thrust to a radical change is inexplicable: Hakan abandons superficiality and he is astonished by Bahar’s unexpected purity and gentleness, by her marvellous and bright smile.

Bahar is different from other girls: due to a car accident, she hasn’t been able to remember anything since that tragic moment, consequently, she cancels the memories of the day just passed, repeating it in a static and endless present.

However, this handicap makes Bahar much more special and Hakan deeply falls in love with her without difficulties.

The meeting reveals itself important for both, because the vet finally feels a sincere love, while the tender girl overcomes the uncertainties, related to her disability, and takes back her life.

Bahar becomes stronger and starts teaching in a recovery centre for mental disablility, without leaving her passion for painting and her sensible mind, demonstrating love can improve keen people, without fully changing their authentic and autonomous identity.

Özge Gürel as Bahar. (2017). [Photo]. https://foto.haberler.com/haber/2020/05/20/ilk-opucuk-filmi-oyunculari-kim-ilk-opucuk-13241180_2811_m.jpg

Nazli Pinar (“Dolunay/ Full Moon”, 2017)

The role of Nazli Pinar in the series Dolunay (the international title is “Bitter Sweet”) marks a turning point in Özge’s career, because this is one of the most acclaimed and broadcast Turkish television product abroad, thanks to its elegance and narrative refinement.

Nazli embodies the best of these content and formal features: she is a simple girl who lives in a common district of Istanbul with her best friend Fatoş and her younger sister Asuman and, far from her native home, she has to study and work at the same time.

Nazli Pinar doesn’t care to be flashy to attract men’s attention, nor she is interested in going to trendy clubs to make new acquaintances; she prefers helping her friends in difficulties and volunteering in a kennel, while she attends gastronomy lessons and a Japanese language course.

Her main goal is to become a brilliant and famous chef and Nazli knows she has to work hard to achieve that, avoiding distractions.

When she starts working in a known businessman’s kitchen, she doesn’t imagine who is going to meet: Ferit Aslan (interpreted by Can Yaman) is the most attractive and desired boy in Turkey, an upright guy, little inclined to feelings, but Nazli succeeds in melting his heart of stone, while she can’t resist to him so long…

Even if they get married to give a family to Bulut, Ferit’s nephew, who is orphaned, Nazli doesn’t give up on her dream, so she opens her restaurant, without her rich husband’s help: a tenacious girl is able to make dreams come true by herself because her aspirations are worth as much as man’s ones.

Özge Gürel as Nazli Pinar. (2017). [Photo]. https://64.media.tumblr.com/8e5ff24b3511f5130b220675afad9916/6dc7bf61b5e740c3-ec/s640x960/8bee0e6e2f06678414d057079dd7cc0995ba6fac.jpg

Nazlı (“Annem/ (My) Mom”, 2019)

Nazlı is the most dramatic Özge’s character, far from romanticism and comic scenes.

This unlucky girl is a very challenging role, by which Özge’s extraordinary acting ability emerges in all its communicative power, underlined by her natural beauty, without filters and excesses which becomes even more obvious in this touching film.

Nazlı lives in a retrograde village of rural Turkey, on the verge of absolute poverty, with a mother submitted to a rough father, faithful to a patriarchal mentality.

The young woman doesn’t accept these obsolete living conditions, so she studies hard to have high academic achievement and move to Istanbul to attend university; she is stimulated by the desire for redemption, in order to build a better life for herself, where misery, ignorance and inequalities are just a distant, bad memory.

Nazlı doesn’t stop believing in a different future, but her hopes are betrayed, because she discovers to have an incurable disease, overwhelming the spectator with a corrosive psychological identification.

Nevertheless, Nazlı fights till to the and Özge, by her tragic story, sends a clear message: enjoy every instant of your life.

Özge Gürel as Nazlı. (2019). [Photo]. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/6f/8d/c86f8dbb7a8815d518b9386b1eed956b.jpg

Ezgi Inal (“Bay Yanlış/ Mr. Wrong”, 2020)

Thanks to Ezgi, Özge reaches human and artistic excellence: this character is an infinite source of inspiration, a concentrate of energy, freedom and independence, and Bay Yanlış (the international title is “Mr Wring”) is the ideal narrative context for exalting these themes.

This innovative series is a direct hymn to modernity and diversity, taking distances from conventional love stories and stereotyped ways of talking about the relationship between a man and a woman.

Ezgi and the male protagonist Özgür, played by Can Yaman, who Özge meets again on set after three years, confirming a winning and captivating working team, are two distinct and enterprising personalities, proud of what they are.

Ezgi is a smiling, lively girl and, in spite of her amorous disappointments, she doesn’t stop believing in her dreams, in her sentimental life as well as in her professional one, aware of her choices, even if they are complicated.

False respectability isn’t contemplated in Ezgi’s horizon, nor she compromises with her past boyfriends’ triviality or with a job that rewards ordinary and recommended people only; she pursues her goals by herself, with honesty and always showing her intellectual values.

Thanks to Özgür’s advice, Ezgi succeeds in going beyond appearances, overcoming canons of the perfect man, and she discovers this kind of sincere boy is right in front of her.

They forge a sparkling partnership, in which each learns something from the other until they will find themselves very close…

But the respectful Özgür never obscures the shining Ezgi, with her unique identity and point of view: her stubbornness always gets the last word in every decision, often provoking misunderstandings and genuine laughs.

And here Özge reaches the apex of her acting flair: her expressiveness has no equal, her vivid gestures are spontaneous, her magnetic gazes are capable of impressing the coldest spectators too.

Ezgi is a complex and eclectic character, an angelical woman who makes emancipation possible and the empathy immediate, perfectly reproducing Özge’s open and cosmopolitan thinking.

Moreover, the name “Ezgi” isn’t randomisation: its meaning is “melody” and it lets suppose the idea of an unexpected recall, similar to a deep spiritual truth, which reveals quiescent feelings that affect the mind forever.

Özge Gürel as Ezgi Inal. (2020b). [Photo]. https://64.media.tumblr.com/d62fc6fe511629d90947c7d4e073b0b9/50397158a375812c-0c/s1280x1920/5cb0c4b5609b2e208036bb2187256451426d472c.jpg

Ezgi is the last role that Özge has played, but she deserves many other acting challenges like this because the world needs special people like her, who make the difference in this anonymous present.

Her inner strength and empathy are priceless treasures, her engaging words and actions have a universal range and they are able to stimulate changes and reflections.

These implied teachings, conveyed by her characters and her life choices, invite you to always believe in yourself and in your point of view: they push to preserve your own diversity, because being different is a privilege, even if many people don’t agree with you; you are a happy and realized person only when you listen to your heart and its will.

And Özge and her precious soul are the best tangible example of who continues to follow, day by day, own human path with passion, spreading own shy but conscious voice.

AUTHOR INFO
Alessia Citti
Graduated in Editing and Writing next to La Sapienza in Rome, vegan, dreamer, travels and books lover... Live your truth
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