# Melisa Sözen

Melisa Sözen (born 6 July 1985) is a Turkish actress.

## Biography

Starting her professional career at the very early age of 15, she studied in theatre department of Pera Fine Arts High School. Sözen starred in many Turkish TV hits including Çemberimde Gül Oya, Bıçak Sırtı, Bir Bulut Olsam, Muhteşem Yüzyıl, "Kırmızı Oda" and Şubat. She played two different roles in surreal series "Şubat" alongside ex-husband Alican Yücesoy.
After working with Turkey's most prominent directors in movies like Av Mevsimi, Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş and Cenneti Beklerken. Sözen attracted international attention with her phenomenal acting in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Palme d'Or winning Kış Uykusu in 2014. Sözen frequently was invited as a jury member to many international film festivals including Guanajuato International Film Festival (Mexico, 2015), International Istanbul Film Festival (Turkey, 2016), Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia Herzegovina, 2017) and Cannes Series (France, 2018).
Following her role in the 3rd Season of Éric Rochant's influential series Le bureau des légendes in 2017, Sözen moved to Paris for a while and worked on her French. Her first leading role in a French movie came in 2019 with Damien veut changer le monde.
With Kenan İmirzalıoğlu, she played in Blutv's detective series Alef about history of theology. Sözen appeared in Netflix series Biz Kimden Kaçıyorduk Anne?, the adaptation of the Perihan Mağden's novel. She had leading role in an episode of mini series 7 Yüz with ensemble cast.
Achieving an extraordinary level of critical success in her homeland by winning both Theater Critics Association's and Film Critics Association's awards for the actress in a leading role in 2015 with her performances in play Kalp Düğümü (The Knot of the Heart) .
In 2025, Sözen was questioned by Istanbul police on suspicion of "promoting terrorist propaganda", following her role in Le Bureau des Légendes, in which her character wore an outfit similar to that of the YPG, designated as a terrorist organisation in Turkey. Sözen, who was not detained, denied that the costume was a deliberate reference to the group and observed that the programme had not been broadcast in Turkey.

## Personal life

As of 2014, she is in a relationship with Harun Tekin who is one of the founding members and the vocalist of the Turkish rock band Mor ve Ötesi.

## Filmography
### Web series

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 2017 | Le Bureau des Légendes | Esrin | Canal + Presents |
| 2017 | 7Yüz | Banu | BluTV Presents |
| 2020 | Alef | Yaşar | FX & BluTV Presents |
| 2023 | Biz Kimden Kaçıyorduk Anne? | Mother | Netflix Presents |

### TV series

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1997 | Baba Evi | | Guest |
| 1999 | Kadınlar Kulübü | Young | Guest |
| 2001 | Nisan Yağmuru | Nilüfer | Guest |
| 2001 | Yeni Hayat | Özgür | |
| 2002 | Asmalı Konak | | Guest |
| 2003 | Büyümüş De Küçülmüş | Şebnem | |
| 2003 | Şıh Senem | Şıh kızı Sinem | |
| 2003 | Şarkılar Seni Söyler | Fatoş | |
| 2004-2005 | Çemberimde Gül Oya | Feriha | |
| 2005 | Beşinci Boyut | İş Kadını Özlem Güler Ekergil | Guest |
| 2006 | Azap Yolu | Burcu | |
| 2007 | Hakkını Helal Et | Gamze | Guest |
| 2007-2008 | Bıçak Sırtı | Nisan Ertuğrul | |
| 2009-2010 | Bir Bulut Olsam | Narin Bulut | |
| 2010 | Güneydoğudan Öyküler Önce Vatan | Aylin Solmaz | |
| 2010 | Kollama | Avukat Pınar Büyük | Guest |
| 2011 | Reis | Ayşe | |
| 2012 | Muhteşem Yüzyıl | Nora (Efsun Hatun) | Joined |
| 2012 | Şubat | Yağmur & Sabah | |
| 2014 | Anasının Oğlu | Ece | |
| 2015 | Beş Kardeş | Fahriye | |
| 2016-2017 | Hayat Şarkısı | İpek | Joined |
| 2018 | Babamın Günahları | Yeşim | |
| 2020 | Kırmızı Oda | Alya | Joined |

### Films

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 2000 | Aşk Güzel Şeydir | | TV film |
| 2000 | Köçek | | TV film |
| 2001 | Bana Şans Dile | Tuba | |
| 2004 | Okul | Ceyda | |
| 2004 | O Şimdi Mahkum | Aylin | |
| 2004 | Kayıp Aşklar | Nermin | |
| 2005 | Deli Mavi / İşte Öyle Bir Şey | Lara | TV film |
| 2006 | Cenneti Beklerken | Leyla | |
| 2006 | Eve Giden Yol 1914 | Safiye | |
| 2007 | Kabuslar Evi: Seni Beklerken | Mukaddes-Ece | |
| 2008 | Para=Dolar | | TV film |
| 2010 | Av Mevsimi | Asiye | |
| 2012 | Pazarları Hiç Sevmem | Deniz | |
| 2014 | Kış Uykusu | Nihal | |
| 2014 | Benimle Var Mısın | | |
| 2015 | Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş | Nehir | |
| 2017 | Çember: Kızımı Bulun | İpek Eryılmaz | TV film series |
| 2019 | Damien veut changer le monde | Selma | |

### Short Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2002 | İçerideki | Zeynep |
| 2005 | Çarpışma | Purse woman |
| 2006 | İade-i Ziyaret | Cansu |
| 2019 | The Day After | Woman on the bus |

### Dubbing

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 2009 | Casus Kızlar | Clover | |
| 2020 | Ben Tek Siz Hepiniz | Operator | |