Mili Avital facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mili Avital
מילי אביטל
Mili Avital
Born	(1972-03-30) 30 March 1972 (age 53) Jerusalem, Israel
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Charles Randolph ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	2

Mili Avital (born March 30, 1972) is an Israeli actress famous for starring in movies and TV shows in both Israel and the United States. She began her career on stage and screen in Israel, where she won an Israeli Academy Award.

In 1993, she moved to New York to study acting. While working as a waitress, she was discovered by an agent and quickly began her career in Hollywood. Since then, she has worked in both countries.

Early Life and Education

Mili Avital was born in Jerusalem. Her parents, Iko and Noni Avital, were both artists. Her father was from Morocco, and her mother was born in Egypt to a Turkish-Jewish family.

She grew up in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Ra'anana. For high school, she went to the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Givatayim, where she studied theater. As a senior, she starred in a play at the famous Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv.

Acting Career

Mili Avital in the 1991 Israeli film Beyond the Sea

In 1993, Avital moved to New York to study at the Circle in the Square Theatre School. A year later, she landed her first major Hollywood role. She was cast as the female lead in the science fiction movie Stargate (1994), which earned her a Sci-fi Universe award.

Work in Film

Avital has appeared in many well-known films. She acted alongside Johnny Depp in Dead Man (1995) and with David Schwimmer in Kissing a Fool (1998). She also had roles in Polish Wedding (1998) with Claire Danes and The Human Stain (2003) with Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman.

In Israel, she starred in the popular movie Columbian Love (2004). She also played the main character in Noodle (2007), a story about an Israeli and a Chinese boy. For her role in Noodle, she was nominated for another Israeli Academy Award.

More recently, she appeared with Anthony Hopkins again in the movie Mary (2024). She also starred in Kugel, a spin-off of the hit Israeli TV series Shtisel.

Work in Television

Avital has had many roles on television. She is known for her appearances on the crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She played a key role in the show's first episode in 1999 and returned for several other episodes over the years.

Some of her other major TV roles include:

• Playing Scheherazade in the ABC miniseries Arabian Nights (2000).
• Starring in the TV movie Uprising (2001), about a historic event during World War II.
• A recurring role on the TV show Damages (2009-2010).
• Playing Nurit Halevi-Zach in the Israeli series Prisoners of War (2009-2012). This show was so successful that it was adapted into the American series Homeland.

Directing and Writing

Besides acting, Avital is also a director and writer. In 2004, her short documentary film was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival.

She also directed and co-wrote a comedy play called Next Stop - A Comedy of Misconnections. The play was performed in New York, Los Angeles, and later at the Habima National Theater in Israel. In 2023, she co-wrote another play called "I Hear You," which won Play of the Year in Israel.

Personal Life

Avital is married to Charles Randolph, a screenwriter who won an Academy Award for the movie The Big Short. They have two children, Benjamin and Fanya. The family lives in both London and New York.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Mili Avital para niños