Biography
Biography
Ayşegül Günay was born on 9 November 1969 in Eskişehir, Turkey. She graduated from the Theatre Department of Anadolu University State Conservatory and began her career on the stage, working with Genco Erkal’s Dostlar Theatre in 1997–1998, where her performance as Xanthippe in Yalınayak Sokrates earned her a nomination at the 1999 Afife Theatre Awards. She retired from Bursa City Theatre in 2012.
Günay made her screen debut in 2006 in Kaybolan Yıllar, and has since built one of the steadiest careers in Turkish television. Alongside acting, she has also worked as a presenter, hosting Show TV’s Bir Şansım Olsa in 2021–2022.
Career
Her breakthrough came in 2010 as Sultan Yeşilyurt in Lale Devri, a role she carried into Yer Gök Aşk (2010–2012). She went on to play Aytül in Asla Vazgeçmem (2015–2016), Zöhre Hatun in Kuruluş Osman (2019–2020) and Füsun Aslanbey in Hercai (2020–2021). Her film credits include Sümela’nın Şifresi: Temel (2011), Moskova’nın Şifresi: Temel (2012) and Şuursuz Aşk (2019), and she voiced the Turkish dub of Avatar (2009).
More recently, Günay appeared as Helena Dragaş in Mehmed: Fetihler Sultanı (2024), Handan Erdemir in Bir Gece Masalı (2025) and Azize Bereketoğlu in Bereketli Topraklar (2025). In 2026 she joined the cast of NOW’s Sevdam Karadeniz as Hafize Alazlı, the formidable matriarch of the Alazlı family, whose long-standing feud with the Yenicelis drives the story.
Personal life
Günay married fellow theatre actor Ali Sinan Demir in 2002. The couple have twin sons, Toprak and Boran, and divorced in 2023.
