Hande Erçel Biography
Hande Erçel is a Turkish model and actress who gained fame from the romantic series "Ask Laftan Anlamaz," which aired in 2016-2017. The telenovela tells the story of a provincial girl named Hayat who travels to the capital to become a model and falls in love with a businessman. This, to some extent, mirrors Erçel's own story. She later gained international recognition with the hit series 'Sen Çal Kapımı' (Love is in the Air, Knock on My Door).
Childhood
The future actress was born in November 1993 in the provincial Turkish city of Bandırma. Her father worked in trade, her mother was a housewife. Hande has an older sister by one year, Gamze. Being so close in age, the sisters felt like twins. Erçel has described her family as small but tight-knit, with everyone deeply caring for one another.Growing up in a close-knit small town, her parents felt comfortable letting her play outside freely. She and her sister spent a lot of time playing with friends in the nearby park. Hande still keeps in touch with her childhood friends.
After graduation, both sisters enrolled at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul—Hande studying Turkish language and literature, while her sister pursued design.
Acting Career
Hande began appearing in TV series in 2012 when she was 19 years old. However, these were all small, episodic roles. For instance, she acted in the series "Çalikusu" ("Lovebird",) based on the novel by Reşat Nuri Güntekin. Bigger roles would come later.Her first major role came in the multi-part series "Günesin Kizlari" (2015), where Hande played the modest girl Selin Yılmaz, the youngest daughter of a 35-year-old Mrs. Güneş. In the plot, the family's father dies, and Güneş marries another man, but life with her stepfather is unbearable for her children.
In 2016, Hande became the face of L'Oreal for a year. She advertised hair dye. The contract required her to keep the same hair color for a year.
In 2018, Hande won a beauty contest held in Azerbaijan, which brought her new audition invitations and new advertising contracts.
Hande Erçel's Personal Life
In interviews, the actress has confessed she's a hopeless romantic who falls hard and fast—which explains her long list of admirers. Her first boyfriend was actor Ekin Mert Daymaz. While Hande's star was rising, his career struggled to keep pace—a dynamic that may have doomed their romance. Their split was refreshingly drama-free—they just quietly unfollowed each other on social media and moved on.
Hande Erçel Now
Hande's passionate about her career and determined to keep pushing forward with hard work. She's hoping to land major dramatic roles on screen someday. In fact, she's even said she'd love to take on Natalie Portman's role in "Black Swan."
