Time Goes By’s Ayça Bingöl

The actress met with TV Drama to discuss the series and the success of Turkish drama on the international stage.

The drama Time Goes By was a resounding success for Kanal D and sold well outside of its native home of Turkey. The series is set in the year 1967 and follows Cemile (played by Ayça Bingöl), who discovers that her husband, a long-distance ship’s captain, is having an affair.

TV DRAMA: What was it about the story in Time Goes By that appealed to you?
BINGÖL: They sent me the scripts for 14 episodes. I had never seen anything like it before in Turkey. I then had a meeting with the writer, and we understood each other very well. From the first moment, I understood the power of this story and this character. The writer, director and the cast all had the same vision.

TV DRAMA: After the success of Time Goes By, was it more difficult to choose your next project?
BINGÖL: Yes, absolutely! When I was working on the show, I was thinking, Oh God, what will I do next? Because I knew that the next project I did could be a [failure]. And it was!

We finished 120 episodes and I had worked so hard for three years, so I wanted to rest a bit. For 13 months I didn’t want to read anything. I wanted people to forget [me and my character] a little bit since I was on the screen for so long that even I was bored of myself [laughs].

When I decided to work again, I read the best scripts that I had. I chose one, but it failed. It was canceled after eight episodes. It was disappointing, but I learned a lot from that experience. I also had a theater show that was running, so I was acting and working, but not on TV.

TV DRAMA: Is it difficult to transition between theater, movies and television?
BINGÖL: If you schedule everything well, it’s not a problem. We have very long [running times] for TV episodes, around 110 to 120 minutes in an episode. And we are shooting that in six days. It’s really hard work! When you’re doing that, you cannot rehearse [for another project]. That’s why I didn’t do any theater for years during the filming of Time Goes By. I missed the stage. In theater, it’s live. You feel the audience. It’s all under your control; you are the boss. In TV and movies, the director is God [laughs].

TV DRAMA: Why do you think Turkish dramas are so popular globally?
BINGÖL: There is a lot of action and a lot of intrigue. There are [stories about] families, couples, and husbands and wives. People wonder what’s going to happen next and the audience is curious [about the characters’ stories].

It’s a good time to be working in Turkish television. It’s been a long journey for Turkish television and I’m curious about where it will be in ten years. I hope [the popularity] will last a long, long time.