Mili Avital

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Mili Avital
Mili Avital.jpg
Biographical information
Birth date (1972-03-30) March 30, 1972 (age 52)
Jerusalem, Israel
Nationality Israeli
Professional information
Occupation Actress
Stargate-related information
Related series Stargate
Occupation Actress
Character Sha'uri

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. She portrayed Sha'uri in the 1994 featured film, Stargate.

Early life[edit | edit source]

Avital was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of graphic designers Noni and Iko Avital. Her family is Jewish.[1] She was raised in Tel Aviv and Ra'anana. She attended the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Giv'atayim.

Career[edit | edit source]

American career[edit | edit source]

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 Liaisons at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv.

In 1993 she arrived in New York City to study acting at the "Circle in the Square Theatre 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. In 1999, she gave an outstanding performance as a rape victim from overseas wartime in the pilot episode of the long-running NBC legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Avital returned to the series in 2012 as the worried mother of an abducted child in the episode "Manhattan Vigil". 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 the husband of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). She will appear in the upcoming 2012 ABC television series 666 Park Avenue.[2]

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,[3] received its world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Israeli career[edit | edit source]

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 Me'ever Layam (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.[4] In 2010 Avital is starring in Prisoners of War (aka Chatufim), a Channel 2 prime-time Israeli TV series. Avital was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series, and Prisoners of War won Best Drama Series at the 2010 Israeli TV awards. The second season of the massively successful show, which "Homeland" is based on, is airing in Israel summer 2012.

Personal life[edit | edit source]

She moved to New York in 1994, and later dated David Schwimmer in the early 2000s. Avital continues to reside in New York City with her husband, screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Life of David Gale), and their son and daughter.

Involvement in the Stargate universe[edit | edit source]

Actress[edit | edit source]

Filmography[edit | edit source]

Film and Television
Year Title Role Notes
1999-2012 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ava Parulis / Irina Parulis / Laurie Colfax / … TV series, 3 episodes
2012 666 Park Avenue Danielle Tyler TV series, 1 episode
2009-2012 Hatufim Nurit Halevi-Zach TV series, 11 episodes
2010 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Lenore Abrigaille TV series, 1 episode
2009-2010 Damages Anna Mercado TV series, 3 episodes
2007 Noodle Miri Calderone Film
2005 When Do We Eat? Vanessa Film
2004 Ahava Colombianit Tali Shalev Film
2003 The Human Stain Young Iris Film
2003 Shabatot VeHagim Noa TV series, 2 episodes
2002 Haunted Eryn Towne TV series, 1 episods
2001 Uprising Deworah Baron TV movie
2001 After the Storm Coquina TV movie
2000 Preston Tylk Emily Tylk Film
2000 Arabian Nights Scheherezade TV movie
1999 The Young Girl and the Monsoon Erin Film
1999 Minotaur Thea Film
1998 Kissing a Fool Samantha Andrews Film
1998 Animals with the Tollkeeper Fatima Film
1998 Polish Wedding Sofie Film
1997 The End of Violence Featured Performer Film
1996 Invasion of Privacy Theresa Barnes Film
1995 Dead Man Thel Russell Film
1994 Stargate Shau'ri Film
1993 Groupie Film
1992 Me'ever Layam Miri Goldfarb Film

Awards and nominations[edit | edit source]

Avital won two awards.

Year Award Category Work Result
1991 Award of the Israeli Film Academy Best Actress Me'ever Layam Won
1995 Universe Reader's Choice Award Best Supporting Actress in a Genre Motion Picture Stargate Won
1997 Award of the Israeli Film Academy Best Actress Minotaur Nominated
2007 Award of the Israeli Film Academy Best Actress Noodle Nominated

Notes[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mili Avital . The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Semantic Stargate Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0).