Meital Dohan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Meital Dohan
מיטל דוהן
Dohan in 2007
Nationality	Israeli
Occupation	Actress Playwright Comedian Radio host Author Activist Musician
Years active	1998–present
Height	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)

Meital Dohan (Hebrew: מיטל דוהן) is an actress and musician from Israel. She started her acting career on Israeli television. You might know her from shows like Dancing with the Stars or Esti HaMekho'eret (the Israeli Ugly Betty). She also acted in a play called Romeo and Juliet.

Meital Dohan later began working on US television. She played Yael Hoffman in the Showtime series Weeds. She also had roles in The Sopranos and as Aurora in the web-comedy Woke Up Dead. Dohan has starred in films like Foreclosure and the thriller Monogamy. Monogamy won an award at the Tribeca Film Festival. Her acting has earned her two Israeli Oscar nominations and an Israeli Tony Award.

In 2012, Dohan started her music career. She worked with hip-hop producer Che Pope. They recorded her first album, I'm in Hate With Love. Her first song "Yummy" became very popular. Its music video was a hit online. Another song, "On Ya" with Sean Kingston, reached No. 5 on the UK Club Pop Charts. It also reached No. 31 on the Billboard Club Chart. Many DJs, including R3hab and Sidney Samson, remixed her songs.

Early Life and Training

In 1994, Meital Dohan joined the Israel Defense Forces. She served in the IDF theater group. After that, she studied acting at the Nissan Nativ acting school. During her studies, she received scholarships. These scholarships came from the America Israel Cultural Foundation.

In her first year, she wrote, directed, and acted in her own play. In her second year, she started working in TV shows. By her third year, she was in two feature films. Before she even graduated, Dohan signed a contract. This contract was with Israel's famous Cameri Theater.

Career Highlights

Acting in Israel and Moving to the US (1998-2005)

Meital Dohan graduated from the Tel Aviv acting school Nissan Nativ in 1998. After graduating, she took on many acting roles. She worked at two major theaters in Israel. First, she was at the Cameri Theater. Later, she also acted at the Haifa Theatre.

At the Cameri Theater, she played several important roles. She starred as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. In 2000, she won an Israeli Theater Award for her role in "Best Friends." This award is like a Tony Award in the US. She won in the 'Most Promising New Actress' category. A few years later, Israeli writer Edna Mazia wrote a part just for Dohan. This was for her play "Bad Children." Her performance in Bad Children earned her another Best Actress award at the Israeli Tony's.

After two years in theater, Dohan got her first big film role. This was in the Hebrew film Giraffes, released in 2001. Before Giraffes, Dohan also had roles in The Legend of the Silent Man (1998) and Instructions Not Included (1999). In Giraffes, Dohan played Efrat. Her role led to her first Israeli Oscar nomination, called an Ophir Award, in 2002. She even studied French for this film. Giraffes later won an award at the 2003 Scottsdale Arizona Film Festival. Her next film was God's Sandbox (2004).

Dohan returned to theater in 2003. She sang and acted in Moving Flesh at the Cameri Theater. She also started directing plays at the Tmu-na Theater. Besides theater, Dohan got a major TV role. This was in the Israeli version of Ugly Betty. She played the funny main character, Nataly. The series was very popular in Israel. It won many awards, including the Israeli Oscar for Best Comedy Series in 2003. Dohan won an Israeli Tony Award for her lead role in the series. Later that year, Dohan co-wrote a movie script. She wrote it with Maayan Keret.

In 2003, Dohan got her first role in the United States. She was invited to play a part in Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca. Dohan then announced she was working on a one-woman comedy show. It was called Bath Party. Dohan created it with Karen Shefler and Ayelet Dekel. It was performed Off-Broadway at the HERE Arts Center. This show was Dohan's big break in US theater. She received good reviews from New York media. The New York Times praised her work. Village Voice also liked Dohan's performance. They said she had "sharp wit and notable ability to find the unlikely joke." In 2004, she starred in the film To Dance. Later, Dohan co-wrote Love and S... on the High Holidays with Israeli singer Ivri Lide.

Major US Roles and Music (2006-Present)

In 2006, Dohan got her biggest role in the United States. This was after the first season of the TV show Weeds. Dohan played Yael Hoffman. Yael was the admissions director of a rabbinical school. The main character, Andy Botwin, attended this school. Dohan appeared in every episode of season 2.

In 2008, she acted in the play Stitching by Anthony Neilson. This play was performed Off-Broadway and in Los Angeles. The Forward newspaper said Dohan "Shines on the New York Stage."

In 2009, she appeared in two episodes of the online series Woke Up Dead. This series is about a young man who wakes up with no heartbeat. His friends think he has become a zombie. Dohan plays Aurora in the series. The show received good reviews, including one from the Los Angeles Times. In 2010, Dohan became the official spokesperson for "Artists 4 Israel." She supported their "Paint Israel" project. This project aimed to paint bomb shelters in Sderot. It showed that young artists in America supported the people of Israel.

Dohan returned to theater in January 2011. She starred in the play Beirut in New York City. Later that year, Dohan starred in the dramatic thriller Monogamy. The film was directed by Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro. It is about a difficult relationship between a couple, Theo (Chris Messina) and Nat (Rashida Jones). The film won "Best Narrative" at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Meital Dohan has also written a book called Love and Other Bad Habits. In January 2011, she started a talk radio show online. It was called Loud Miracles and aired on Women's Radio. On her show, Dohan talked about Transcendental Meditation. She was very interested in this technique. She wanted to bring more awareness to it. She even talked about teaching it to people in the Israeli Army.

Six years after her first appearance in Weeds, it was announced that Dohan would return. She came back for the 100th episode in 2012. In 2016, she joined the cast of Cabaret Maxime. She played herself in the film.

Music Career

In 2011, Dohan announced she was making her first solo album. It was titled I'm in Hate with Love. Dohan started working with producers Rami Afuni and Che Pope. Che Pope is famous for working with artists like Dr. Dre and Eminem.

In October 2011, Dohan released "Yummy Boyz." This was a popular online video. Pop sites like Popdust.com called the song "catchy" and "upbeat." In February 2012, Meital released her first song, "Yummy," on iTunes. It was also featured on MTVu and MTV Networks. After the success of "Yummy Boyz" and "Yummy," Meital released "On Ya." This song featured Sean Kingston. PopCrush called it a "club banger." The song reached No. 31 on the Billboard Dance Chart. It also hit No. 5 on the UK's Pop Chart, even before its official release.

The song "Yummy" became very popular on PRIDE Radio. It was one of the most played songs there. It also reached No. 49 on the Billboard dance chart. Because "Yummy" was so successful, Dohan performed at several events. These included the Winter Music Conference and The Dinah. The Dinah named Dohan one of the top five new artists to watch in 2012. She also presented an award at the 2012 International Dance Music Awards.

In June 2012, Interview magazine showed Dohan's second song, "On Ya." It featured rapper-singer-songwriter Sean Kingston. Dohan officially released the song on June 6, 2012. Dohan also released an official music video for "On Ya" on October 14, 2012. The video included Sean Kingston. It gained over three million views in just one month. The video was directed by Ray Kay. He is known for directing music videos for Justin Bieber ("Baby") and Lady Gaga ("Pokerface").

Film and Television Roles

Television

• Puzzle (1 episode, 1999)
• Shemesh (1 episode, 2000) as Sarit
• Lochamey HaMasach (2002)
• Shaul (1 episode, 2002)
• My First Sony (2002)
• Esti HaMekho'eret (2003–2004) as Natalie Bushari-Mark
• Elvis, Rosental VeHaIsha HaMistorit (2005) as Natalie Bushari-Mark
• Elvis (2006) as Natalie Bushari-Mark
• The Sopranos (1 episode, 2006) as Yael
• Weeds (7 episodes, 2006) as Yael Hoffman
• Lo Hivtachti Lach (2006)
• Pa'am BaChayim (2007)
• Woke Up Dead (9 episodes, 2009) as Aurora
• Weeds (2012) as Yael Hoffman

Film

• Agadat HaIsh SheShatak (The Legend of the Silent Man) (1998)
• Bli Daf Hora'ot (Instructions Not Included) (1999)
• Girafot (2001) as Efrat
• Disphoria (2004) as Danielle
• Shark Tale (2004) as Angie (Hebrew Dub)
• Tahara (God's Sandbox) (2004)
• If Only He'd Call (2006)
• Lirkod (The Belly Dancer) (2006) as Deby
• Failing Better Now (2010)
• Monogamy (2010) as. Subgirl
• Foreclosure (2011)
• Ponies (2010) (in production) as Aliah

Awards and Nominations

• 2002: Nominated for an Israeli Academy Award for 'Best Actress' for her role in Giraffes.
• 2003: Nominated for an Israeli Academy Award for 'Best Actress' for her role in God's Sandbox.
• Won an Israeli Tony Award for her work in Cameri Theater. She also won for her main role in the Israeli Emmy-winning series Ugliest Esti.
• Israeli Theater Award (like the US Tony Awards, 2000) for Most Promising Actress. This was for her role as Sofi in "Best Girlfriend."
• Cameri Theater Scholarship for Deserving Young Actress, 1999.
• American Israel Foundation Scholarship 1996, 1997.