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Mili Avital (Hebrew: מילי אביטל‎; born 30 March 1972) is an Israeli actress. Avital built a successful stage and film career in Israel, winning the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 and nominated for Best Actress in 1994.

Biography

Personal life

Avital was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of graphic designers Noni and Iko Avital.^[1] She was raised in Tel Aviv and Ra'anana. She attended the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Giva’atayim. She moved to New York in 1994, where she's lived since, now with her husband, screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Life of David Gale), and their son.

American Career

As one of the most highly regarded actresses in her native Israel, Avital has created international success with her diverse starring roles in film, television and theater. She began her professional career during her senior year in high-school, in the play "Dangerous Liasons" Cameri Theater in Tel-Aviv. In 1993 she arrived in New York to study acting at the "Circle in the Square Theater School". The following year, discovered by an agent while working as a waitress, she was immediately cast as the female lead in Stargate, 1994, for which she received a Sci-fi Universe award. She has appeared in films such as Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man opposite Johnny Depp, Doug Ellin's Kissing a Fool, Polish Wedding, Robert Benton's The Human Stain and When Do We Eat? Her television work includes portraying Scheherazade in the Emmy-nominated ABC miniseries Arabian Nights to rave reviews, Jon Avnet’s Uprising and After the Storm. In 2009-2010 Avital has appeared in the FX TV show "Damages", in a recurring role as the mistress to Patty Hewes' (Glen Close) husband.

In Theater, Avital played Cordelia in King Lear at the Electric Lodge (Venice, California), 2006, directed by Patsy Rodenburg. Her directorial debut, a short documentary I Think Myself I am All the Time Younger,^[2] received its world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Israeli Career

Avital was first introduced to Israeli audience in the title role of "Yael's Friends", a highly popular Television Film, to rave reviews. She won the 1992 Israeli Film Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her first feature film role, in "Over the Ocean". Her recent work in Israel includes the cult comedy Ahava Colombianit (Colombian Love), as well as Noodle, for which she received the 2007 Israel’s Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actress, the Israeli Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and Israel’s Person of the Year nomination. 2006.^[3] In 2010 Avital is starring in Prisoners of War (aka "Chatufim"), a Channel 2 prime time Israeli TV series.

Filmography

• "Yael's Friends" (1991)
• Me'ever Layam (1992)
• "Groupie" (1993)
• Stargate (1994)
• Dead Man (1995)
• Invasion of Privacy (1996)
• Minotaur (1997)
• The End of Violence (1997)
• Polish Wedding (1998)
• Animals and the Tollkeeper (1998)
• Kissing a Fool (1998)
• The Young Girl and the Monsoon (1999)
• Arabian Nights (2000)
• Preston Tylk (2000)
• After the Storm (2001)
• Uprising (2001)
• The Human Stain (2003)
• Ahava Colombianit (2004)
• When Do We Eat? (2005)
• Noodle (2007)

References

External links

• Mili Avital at the Internet Movie Database