Almila Ada

From London Ballet to Istanbul Sets

Almila Ada wasn't looking for television cameras when she moved to London to study classical dance. Her training at the Royal Academy of Dance mapped out a rigid path where physical effort and discipline were everything. But the entertainment industry has its own rules, and a casting director discovered her by chance in a subway station.

In 2014 she made her debut on the series Kaderimin Yazıldığı Gün. It was a supporting role that tested her endurance through 14-hour shooting days. That early experience in Turkish television permanently changed her professional priorities.

Dance was no longer the only driving force.

Before turning twenty-five, she had already worked as a model for international magazines in Paris and London. This European stage allowed her to fund her ballet studies while she looked for openings in larger-scale fiction productions. And the opportunity didn't take long to arrive.

The Business of Export Series

In 2017, she landed her first leading role in Adi Efsane. She played Melis and connected with a young audience that was beginning to consume fiction on a massive scale on digital platforms. That same year, she followed that project with Cennet’in Gözyaşları, a production that was exported to more than fifty countries.

Audience figures in foreign markets confirmed that her image worked beyond Turkey's borders. The Latin American and European markets bought the broadcast rights to her work almost immediately. As a result, her face became a familiar sight on screens across half the world without her ever giving up her dance studio.

During the filming of Cennet’in Gözyaşları in 2018, the actress decided not to give up her technical training. She founded her own school, Pointe Studio, where she teaches ballet whenever her filming schedule allows. It's a small but steady business.

Her work pace never slowed down.

Big-Screen Adaptations and Biopics

In 2022, she took on the role of Dönüş in the series Üç Kız Kardeş, an adaptation of a bestselling novel in Turkey. The show stayed on the air until 2024 with top ratings in its time slot. Filming took place in the city of Ayvalık and required complex logistics because of the coast's weather conditions.

That same year, she entered film with Barış Akarsu “Merhaba”. In this biopic, she played Zeynep, the partner of the late musician Barış Akarsu. It was a big-budget production that aimed to appeal to the nostalgia of Turkish audiences for the nineties and early 2000s.

Television, however, is still where she earns the most money. Her advertising contracts with cosmetics and fashion brands soared after the final episodes of her last long-running series aired.

The series Üç Kız Kardeş ended its final broadcast in May 2024 after completing 84 episodes.