Mili Avital

Birthday: 30 March 1972, Jerusalem, Israel

Height: 164 cm

Mili Avital began her career, at the age of 17, in Christopher Hampton's "Dangerous Liaisons", at the Cameri Theater of Tel Aviv. Among her Israeli films, she won the 1992 Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Me'ever Layam (1991) (aka "Over the Ocean"). Arriving in New York in 1994, she was immediately cast as the female lead in Roland Emmerich's Stargate (1994), for which she received a Sci-Fi Universe award. Her film work includes: Dead Man (1995) (Jim Jarmusch), Kissing a Fool (1998) (Doug Ellin), Polish Wedding (1998), Animals with the Tollkeeper (1998), The Young Girl and the Monsoon (1999), The Human Stain (2003) (Robert Benton), When Do We Eat? (2005), Ahava Colombianit (2004) (aka "Columbian Love") (Israel), and Noodle (2007) (Israel / China), for which she received the 2007 Israeli Critics' Circle Award for Best Actress, the Israeli Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and Israel's Person of the Year nomination. Television: "Scheherazade" in the Emmy-nominated ABC miniseries, Arabian Nights (2000), NBC miniseries, Uprising (2001) (Jon Avnet), USA Network's After the Storm (2001), Damages (2007) (FX), Hatufim (2009) (aka "Prisoners of War") (Keshet, Israel). Directed a short documentary, I Think Myself I Am All the Time Younger (2004), (Tribeca Film Festival 2004, Jerusalem Film Festival 2004). She resides in New York City with her husband, screenwriter Charles Randolph, and their son. Show less «

In Israel, I think I have the image of an 'Ashkenazi woman' as a stereotype. Someone once told me th...Show more »

In Israel, I think I have the image of an 'Ashkenazi woman' as a stereotype. Someone once told me that I look like a deodorant commercial. But my appearance is misleading; I can be emotionally aggressive, too, and in 'Law and Order,' I once played a murderer. I see no limitations. I see both my toughness and the softness. Show less «

I knew I wanted to get married and have a family, but it was important that my husband be a Jew; I d...Show more »

I knew I wanted to get married and have a family, but it was important that my husband be a Jew; I didn't want to have to explain what Hanukkah is. Show less «

I loved putting on stories as plays when I was just six. I was the director, the actress and the set...Show more »

I loved putting on stories as plays when I was just six. I was the director, the actress and the set designer; I cast my girlfriends in parts, and I suggested to the local kindergarten teachers that we do free performances for the children. Show less «

I may not be Meryl Streep, but I am not untalented.

My agents do not like my choice to work only in New York and Israel - it's not a good career move.

I don't need legitimization to take part in Israeli productions; I am a good actress. To work in Isr...Show more »

I don't need legitimization to take part in Israeli productions; I am a good actress. To work in Israel is a financial investment for me. I do it for emotional, not artistic, reasons. Show less «

It took me many years to understand that my identity is more Israeli than Jewish.

I have no sentiments for nationality or for soil. But I grew up in Israel, so those things are in my...Show more »

I have no sentiments for nationality or for soil. But I grew up in Israel, so those things are in my blood, and I want to be part of Israeli culture. Show less «

Mili Avital

Mili Avital's FILMOGRAPHY

Mili Avital'S roles

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