Tilya Damla Sönmez (born 3 May 1987) is a Turkish actress and voiceover artist. She gained worldwide recognition for her movies Sibel and I Am You. Her prominent TV roles include Ceylan in Bir Aşk Hikayesi, Gülru in Güllerin Savaşı, and Efsun in Çukur.
Early life and education Damla Sönmez is an only child. Her maternal family is Abkhazian immigrants. Her paternal grandparent is of Circassian descent who immigrated to Diyarbakır from Syria. Her father is an engineer and programmer, and her mother works as an architect. Her biggest passion as a child was theater and cinema. She began to study at theater studios early on. During school years, Damla constantly played on stage, and began to appear in commercials on television. In those years she was promised a great future already.
After graduating from Saint Joseph French High School in Istanbul, she was accepted to Université de La Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris in the Theatre department. She studied for a year in Paris before being awarded a scholarship to the Yeditepe University Fine Arts Theatre Department in Istanbul. Sönmez also studied semi-timed 2 years violin and 1 year piano in Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory. She had later attended Jillian O’Dowd's Contemporary Acting Workshop at the London Dramatic School of Art and worked with Stuart Burney at the Black Nexxus Academy in New York.
Career Films In 2009, she starred in Bornova Bornova and won the "Best Supporting Actress" at the 46th Golden Orange Film Festival, alongside other awards at the Sadri Alışık Awards and the Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival. She became the Young President of the festival at the 18th Broom Broom Women Films Festival in 2015 and she won the 21st Golden Boll Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the Milano International Film Festival (MIFF) for her role in the film "Sea Level (Deniz Seviyesi)". She starred in film Sibel about Turkish bird language and released many international festivals. She won "Sadri Alışık Best Actress Award". With Ali Atay, she played in the surreal art house film Sen Aydınlatırsın Geceyi which was released at the Toronto International Film Festival and period film Ayla which was selected as the Turkish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.
Television series In her television career, she played supporting roles in hit series Emret Komutanım, Gece Gündüz, and Türkan. A turning point in her television career was when she was cast as a bride who suffers from loss of memory in the series Şubat. Her first leading role was Bir Aşk Hikayesi, an adaptation of I'm Sorry, I Love You, where she played the role of Ceylan alongside actor Seçkin Özdemir.
In 2014, she starred in the TV series Güllerin Savaşı as Gülru alongside Canan Ergüder. In 2019, she joined season 3 of Çukur portraying Efsun Kent, a character that gained a lot of media attention. Sönmez sang many classic Turkish arabesque songs as part of her role in Çukur including "Durdurun Dünyayı", "Su Ver Leyla", "Sen Affetsen Ben Affetmem", "Sorma", and "Son Mektup". In 2021, it was announced that she will star in the TV series Aziz as Dilruba alongside actor Murat Yıldırım.
Web series In 2017, she played the main role in an episode of BluTV's anthology series 7 Yüz (7 Faces). In 2020, she portrayed Ana in Netflix's historical docudrama Rise of Empires: Ottoman. In 2021, she joined season 2 of BluTV's hit series Saygı (Respect) as Arya Şahin, a public prosecutor.
Filmography Cinema Year Title Role2009Kampüste Çıplak AyaklarEbruBornova BornovaÖzlem2010ÇakalDenizMahpeyker: Kösem SultanKösem Sultan2012Kurtuluş Son DurakTülayUzun HikâyeAyla2013Sen Aydınlatırsın GeceyiDefne2014Deniz SeviyesiDamla2017Taksim Hold'emDefneAyla: The Daughter of WarNuran2018SibelSibel2019I Am YouAisha2024TezgahSeni Bıraktığım YerdeyimNihan Web series Year Title Role20177 YüzPınar2019Rise of Empires: OttomanAna2021SaygıArya ŞahinTBAÇırakHacker Television Year Title Role2004Camdan PabuçlarGülçinOmuz OmuzaPelin2005Kapıları AçmakGülşen2006Pertev Bey'in Üç KızıNerminŞarkılar SusmasınAycanSahte PrensesSedef2006–2007Fırtınalı AşkMelda Talay2008Emret KomutanımKaramel2008–2009Gece GündüzPınar2010–2011TürkanTurhan2012ŞubatGelin2013–2014Bir Aşk Hikâyesi (A Love Story)Ceylan German2014–2016Güllerin SavaşıGülru Çelik Sipahi2017Aşk ve GururZeynep2018Masum DeğilizSelin2019–2021ÇukurEfsun2021–2022AzizDilruba2023Maviye SürgünDefne Boz2024Kötü KanNazan Kaya Short film Year Title Role2008The Irony Series 1: HopeDamla2011AlalaKardeş (sister)2011KorkulukKadın (woman)2019The CutJournalist2020Don't Get Me Wrong ButGünseli2020The Second NightLeyla Advertisement Year Title Notes2004Orkid2016LCW - Geri Sayım Başladı dubbing2017Becel - Kalbini Sev dubbing 2017Dogadanvoiceover2017Modacruzvoiceover2017Vestelvoiceover2019Boschvoiceover2020L'Oréal2021Biscolata voiceover
Theater YearDamla Sönmez, tiyatrolar.com.trTitleWriterDirectorRoleNotes2008Sürmanşet Sinan TuzcuArif AkkayaDirector Assistant2009Alışveriş ve S***ş / Shopping and F***ing Mark RavenhillMurat DaltabanProject Design / Dramaturg2012Yalnız BatıMartin McDonaghSerkan ÜstünerGirleen2014Savaş Lars NorenSerdar BilişBenina2016Parçacıklar Nick PayneTamer Can ErkanMarianne2017Bi Parça PlastikMarius von MayenburgSündüz HaşarProject Coordinator2021HamletWilliam Shakespeareİbrahim Çiçek OpheliaDigital theater
Awards and nominations +YearAwardsCategoryWorksResult2009Antalya Golden Orange Film FestivalBest Supporting ActressBornova Bornova2010Ankara Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival
Young Witch AwardBest ActressBornova Bornova2014Adana Film Festival Golden Boll in National Feature FilmBest ActressDeniz Seviyesi2018Adana Film Festival Golden Boll in National Feature FilmBest Actress Sibel2018Kayseri Film FestivalBest ActressTaksim Hold'em2018London Film WeekBest ActingSibel2015Milano International Film Festival Awards (MIFF Awards)
Leonardo's HorseBest ActressDeniz Seviyesi2018Asia Pacific Screen AwardsBest Performance by an ActressSibel2020Florence Film AwardsBest ActressI Am You2018Kayseri Film Festival
Golden SycamoreBest ActressTaksim Hold'em2010Sadri Alisik Theatre and Cinema AwardsPromising Actor AwardBornova Bornova2019Sadri Alisik Theatre and Cinema AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - DramaSibel2019Seattle International Film Festival Golden Space Needle AwardBest ActressSibel2019Turkish Film Critics Association (SIYAD) AwardsBest ActressSibel 2013Turkish Film Critics Association (SIYAD) AwardsBest Supporting ActressSen Aydinlatirsin Geceyi 2009Turkish Film Critics Association (SIYAD) AwardsBest Supporting ActressBornova Bornova2009Yesilçam AwardBest Young TalentBornova Bornova2010Yesilçam AwardBest Young TalentMahpeyker - Kösem Sultan2014Yeni Tiyatro Dergisi Emek ve Başarı AwardsMost Successful Actress of the Year in a Supporting RoleSavaş2018Ulusal YarışmaBest ActressSibel20186th Muret Film Festival (France)Best ActressSibel2018Eskisehir International Film FestivalBest Performance of the YearSibel2019Mef Schools - Changemakers AwardChangemaker2019Frankfurt Turkish Film FestivalBest ActressSibel2018Afife Theater AwardsBest Supporting Actress of the YearBi Parça Plastik
References
External links