Background
Avital was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of graphic designers Noni and Iko Avital.
Avital was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of graphic designers Noni and Iko Avital.
She attended the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Givatayim.
Avital built a successful international career. That year she moved to New York and started to work almost immediately in America. She has maintained her career in both countries since.
She began her professional career on stage, during her senior year in high school, in 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". She has appeared in films such as Jim Jarmusch"s Dead Manitoba opposite Johnny Depp, Doug Ellin"s Kissing a Fool, Polish Wedding opposite Clair Danes, and Robert Benton"s The Human Stain.
In 1999, she portrayed a rape victim from overseas in the pilot episode of the long-running National Broadcasting Company 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".
Her television work includes Scheherazade in the Emmy-nominated American Broadcasting Company miniseries Arabian Nights to rave reviews, Jon Avnet’s Uprising, and After the Storm.
In 2009-2010 Avital appeared in the Forex television show Damages, in a recurring role as the mistress to the husband of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). She recently appeared in the 2012 American Broadcasting Company television series 666 Park Avenue. 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, received its world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Festival in New New York
Avital was first introduced to Israeli audiences in the title role of Yael"s Friends, a highly popular television film, to rave reviews. Avital stars in Prisoners of War (aka Chatufim), a Keshet prime-time Israeli television series, on which the American television series Homeland is based.
Avital was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series (first season) for her work. Avital recently completed a comedy series, Landing on Their Feet, for Keshet, alongside Shani Cohn (Eretz Nehederet).
She started in her native Israel, starring on stage, film and Television, winning the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992, and nominated for Best Actress in 1994. As one of the most highly regarded actresses in her native Israel, Avital has achieved international success with her diverse starring roles in film and television The following year, discovered by an agent while working as a waitress, she was cast as the female lead in Stargate, 1994, for which she received a Sciences-fi Universe award. She won the 1992 Israeli Film Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her first feature film role, in Maine"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 for 2006. The massively successful show won Best Drama Series in the Israeli television Awards.
