Defne Halman was born and raised in New York City where she attended the United Nations International School, and studied at the School of American Ballet. 

Defne then moved to Turkey, received a BA in acting from the Istanbul State Conservatory for Drama and worked extensively in Turkish theatre, film and television. In the 1990’s she performed on the New York stage in many shows and received the New York Arts and Business Council’s ‘Encore’ award. In 2008 she returned to Istanbul and has since appeared in various plays and received five major ‘Best Actress’ awards. Halman appears in her first leading role in Lifelong.