AYCA VARLIER BIOGRAPHY
Turkish/American actor and singer based in Brooklyn, NYC. Born on 7th of May in Ankara, Turkey, she went to the USA when she was 16 as an exchange student in 1993 to finish her high school education and completed her major in Musical Theatre at Hartt School of Music. Then she wanted to get a deeper training in acting which led her to get her MFA at the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University and Moscow Art Theatre School.
After she graduated, she got many offers to sign with agents, but 9/11 happened and she couldn’t get a legit visa to work because of the political climate. She went back to Turkey in 2003, and has been working in many long running TV shows, movies, plays and musical projects since 2005 as a celebrity artist. She received Best Leading Actress in Musical Awards in Afife Jale and Sadri Alışık Theatre Awards; the most prestigious award organizations in Turkey for her role, Roxy in “Leyla’s House” adapted from the book of famous Turkish writer Zülfü Livaneli and staged by Tiyatro Square between the years of 2010 - 2018 and for her role in “Phosphorus Cevriye” musical from 2015 to 2017. She got nominated 3 times for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role “Nurcan” in “Let’s Go” in Golden Butterfly Awards in 2017-2020.
Besides her acting work, she continued her musical career as a singer and composer. She released an album titled “Elif” which included her own songs that combined pop, jazz, rock genres and acoustic music. She sang pop/latin songs in many compilation albums as well and joined as a singer Istanbul Symphony Orchestra and TRT Jazz Orchestra and Izmir Symphony Orchestra in D-Marin Turgutreis International Music Festival and Antalya Symphony Orchestra, Bursa Symphony Orchestra and Ephesus Brass Orchestra during Golden Orange Film Festival in Antalya/Turkey. She still continues her career in music performing her own band in special events and in concert venues.
After she got her Green Card, she moved to NYC in 2021. She feels very fortunate to be living here and be a part of artistic collectives that are flourishing. She is based in Brooklyn and has been working as an actor and singer to this day.