Ayfer Dönmez was born on June 7, 1982 in Manisa. Turkish TV series, cinema and theater actress.
Name: Ayfer Dönmez
Date of Birth: June 7, 1982
Place of Birth: Manisa
Height: 1.65 m.
Weight: 54 kilos
Sign: Gemini
Eye color: brown
Hair Color: Light Brown
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayferdonmez/
Childhood years: It was obvious that she would do a profession that she would consider when she was a child. She wanted to be a musician or a photomodel. “I wanted to be a photo model. But this was a secret game for me that no one knew more about. I used to imagine and pose as if there was a photographer. Then this dream evolved into a desire to become a musician. For many years I wanted to be interested in music. Because everyone in the family is interested in music. In primary school, every day in the last lesson, my teacher used to put a song on the board and sing, I would think about the song I would sing that day every day. I envied everything related to art. I hummed compositions while painting. I spent my childhood in Manisa, we used to go to every game that came to the city. Going theatre to watch always excited me. We used to lose ourselves playing house. We read an English play for the first time in Anatolian High School English preparation, the aim was to improve the language, but I really enjoyed being in those scenes. Then, at that time, I did not come across a course or a group about theater. My dreams of music, guitar and flute continued to be in my life. I won the Department of Business Administration in English in the university exam. Within a year, I decided that this department was never for me. Because nobody needed my opinion. Thankfully, there was an intra-university transfer. I decided that the part where I can express myself more easily and use my creativity is cinema and television. Then I really enjoyed it and I finished that part with the desire to be a director. I fell in love with cinema. I even shot a short film.”
Education life: Graduated from Eskişehir Anadolu University Cinema-TV Department. She did her Master’s in Acting at Kadir Has University. In addition to school, she received training from Ayla Algan and Şahika Tekand Studio Actors.
How did she decide to become an actress? Her acting adventure began when director Ömür Atay asked her to play a character while she was doing her internship behind the camera in the TV series “Bir İstanbul Masalı” in her senior year at university. “I loved it so much that I realized that I would continue to live as an actress in the atmosphere of the stage, in another time dimension. Working on acting, pondering, rehearsing, imagining characters, stories, making observations has become a great passion for me. Afterwards, I put my mind to this job and got training. First, I trained at the Studio Actors under the direction of Şahika Tekand for three years. Afterwards, I did my master’s degree in “Advanced Acting” at Kadir Has University.
The first step into acting: She started her television adventure in 2003 with the character of Ceylan, which he portrayed in the TV series “Bir Istanbul Masalı”.
Which project did it shine with? She attracted attention with the character of “Işık” in the TV series “Hatırla Sevgili”.
Personality traits: In order to make life worthwhile, she goes after everything that excites her and is curious. “I like to go after music, painting, cinema, photography, whatever excites me at that moment. The more something excites me, the more I find myself in it, and this gives me great pleasure. I am not as calm as I seem. I’m a Gemini, although I look calm, I’m just as energetic. My imbalance is to myself, I don’t reflect too much.”
Hobby: Apart from acting, she is also interested in music. “I love to sing. I am particularly interested in jazz music. I’m taking singing lessons. I sang for the first time on a birthday and everyone loved it. For now, I don’t know if I will have album and stage works in the future. At the same time, I have many stories in my mind, and I want to transfer them to paper.”
Mindset: She thinks the formula to look good is to be happy. “When there is a crisis, I do not seek to hold on to the crisis, but to solve it. I always try to be constructive. That’s why I don’t have heavy loads in life. I do things that make me happy. Maybe this view of my life is reflected on my face.”
First feature film: Mehmet Bahadır Er / Kara Köpekler Havlarken
Her view of love: “My view of love is playmate. Feeding each other, teaching each other something is what I’m looking for. Honesty is also important to me, but the most important thing is to be able to produce something together. Expanding my worldview. Sharing is important. For example, making music together is the most beautiful thing in the world for me and so is taking pictures together.”
Her outlook on life: She likes to live in the moment. “I try to live in the moment and avoid the big city. There are days when we spend without looking or seeing our surroundings. We live to consume. When that happens, I don’t feel alive. I resist it. For example, I recently went to respiratory therapy, it feels good.”
Perspective on business life: She loves her job, she likes the feeling of being in the moment while acting. “Acting is something I do 100 percent in the moment, so I love it. There was a time when I was sad when I was doing theatre. It was so nice not to think about anything but the theater for that hour and a half. Acting is a field where I unwittingly escaped from life and where I feel very much. That’s why I love it so much. Acting is something that I live in the moment for me. A space where I tap into energies that are my own, that are real. It’s very enjoyable to be in the moment during a performance.”
The turning point of her career: She sees the character of “Işık”, which she acted in the TV series “Hatırla Sevgili”, as the turning point of her career. “My most influential role was the character of Işık, which I acted in the TV series “Hatırla Sevgili” designed by Tomris Giritlioğlu. I had the chance to act the process of this character from 17 to 36 years old. While the political events of the period were affecting her family, loved ones and marriage, Işık grew up and turned into a strong woman. Blindfolded, she chose to give up the domination of time by a man she only fell in love with and find her own way, and at that time she risked herself as a reckless journalist. A timid boyish girl turned into a strong woman who knows what she wants and takes charge of her own life. These multidimensional strong female characters came out of the wonderful pen of Nilgün Öneş. And of course, Ümmü Burhan added a whole new dimension to these scenes. Another role that affects me as much as ‘Işık’ is from a theater play. The character of ‘Ayfer’ in the theatre play ‘You are more beautiful than Istanbul’ is a very solid character that I have played and told for a lifetime from her youth to the age of 92. This delicately written, colorful and deep character came from the pen of Murat Mahmut Yazıcıoğlu. Playing the life of a woman was a wonderful adventure for me.”
Career plan: Her priority in her profession, she wants to do her job in more depth and also wants to make movies in the future. “I have had a great interest in music since my childhood. It would be my pleasure to do something about it in the future. Other than that, I want to make a movie when I have a story that I really want to tell. I think it should happen when the time comes. Finding a way to produce at all costs is crucial. We find the best by doing. The most consuming project is to wait. Most of the time, it feels more comfortable to be a part of a project designed by someone else. But it is very important to break that shame threshold and produce our own project. There are thousands of stories inside us, but we spend our energy on hiding and ignoring them. The most important thing for any work of art is to listen to your body, your soul, your story, the world, and embrace it to the fullest and let it find its expression. It is important to discover your own way, your own language.”
TV SERIES
2017/2018- Hayat Sırları/ Banu Batuhan
2012/2014 – Dila Hanım / Fatma
2012 – Bir Zamanlar Osmanlı: Kıyam / Şehnaz
2010 – Küstüm Çiçeği
2008 – Gurbet Kuşları / Fatoş
2007 – Affedilmeyen / Ayşe
2006 /2007 – Hatırla Sevgili / Işık
2006 – Erkekler Ağlamaz / Rabia
2003 – Bir İstanbul Masalı / Ceylan
CINEMA MOVIES
2020- Yeniden Leyla
2016- Sadakat/ Zeynep
2015 – O’nun Hikayesi / Zeynep
2014 – Sonsuz Bir Aşk / Aylin
2010 – Şenlikname: Bir İstanbul Masalı/ Gülbahar
2009 – Kurtlar Vadisi: Gladio / Ayşe Yılmaz
2008 – Kara Köpekler Havlarken / Ayşe
THEATER GAMES
2019- Balat Monologlar Müzesi-Kadın/ Actress
2016- Sen İstanbul’dan Daha Güzelsin/ Actress