Could Merve Boluğur have played Feriha?

The Girl named Feriha

Curious news for fans of Turkish series. It turns out that a completely different actress could have played the legendary role of Feriha Yılmaz in the series “The girl named Feriha.”

According to the Turkish press, Merve Boluğur was supposed to play the lead role in the series “The girl named Feriha,” but when filming was postponed from September 2010 to January 2011, she joined the cast of the series “Little Secrets of Istanbul.”

Interestingly, the producer Fatih Aksoy recalled that there was indeed another contender for this role, but he offered Hazal Kaya the role of Feriha three times before she finally agreed. Hazal believed that she couldn’t convincingly portray the daughter of a janitor and initially turned it down. Eventually, Aksoy managed to persuade her. It seems Merve was a “backup option” for the producer in case they couldn’t secure Hazal, who became the most famous young star in Turkey after the phenomenal success of the series “Forbidden Love.”

The series “Little Secrets of Istanbul” garnered interest from viewers in its first season and had ratings of 5-6%. However, in the second season, it dropped to 2% and concluded its run with rather modest results. The series “The girl named Feriha” remains one of Turkey’s most popular TV shows and continues to be successfully sold and broadcast internationally.