Personal life

Avital was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of graphic designers Noni and Iko Avital. Her family is Jewish. She was raised in Tel Aviv and Ra'anana. She attended the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Givatayim. She moved to New York in 1994, and continues to reside there with her husband, screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Life of David Gale, The Interpreter, Love & Other Drugs), and their two children.

Avital served as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Haifa from 2009 to 2013.

American career

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. 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". 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 Sci-fi Universe award. She has appeared in films such as Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man 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 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". Her television work includes Scheherazade in the Emmy-nominated ABC miniseries Arabian Nights to rave reviews, Jon Avnet’s Uprising, and After the Storm . In 2009-2010 Avital appeared in the FX TV show Damages, in a recurring role as the mistress to the husband of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). She recently appeared in the 2012 ABC 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 Film Festival in New York.

Israeli career

Avital was first introduced to Israeli audiences 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 for 2006. Avital stars in Prisoners of War (aka Chatufim), a Keshet prime-time Israeli TV 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. The massively successful show won Best Drama Series in the Israeli TV Awards.

Avital recently completed a comedy series, Landing on Their Feet, for Keshet, alongside Shani Cohn (Eretz Nehederet).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Me'ever Layam	Miri Goldfarb
1993	Groupie
1994	Stargate	Sha'uri
1995	Dead Man	Thel Russell
1996	Invasion of Privacy	Theresa Barnes
1997	End of Violence, TheThe End of Violence	Featured Performer
1998	Polish Wedding	Sofie
1998	Animals with the Tollkeeper	Fatima
1998	Kissing a Fool	Samantha Andrews
1999	Young Girl and the Monsoon, TheThe Young Girl and the Monsoon	Erin
1999	Minotaur	Thea
2000	Bad Seed	Emily Tylk
2003	Human Stain, TheThe Human Stain	Young Iris
2004	Ahava Colombianit	Tali Shalev
2005	When Do We Eat?	Vanessa
2007	Noodle	Miri Calderone

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Marta Stevens	Episode: "Payback"
2000	Arabian Nights	Scheherezade	TV miniseries
2001	After the Storm	Coquina	TV film
2001	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Ava Parulis / Irina Parulis	Episode: "Parasites"
2001	Uprising	Deworah Baron	TV film
2002	Shabatot VeHagim	Noa	Episodes: "El Ha-Ma'ayan", "Air Guitar"
2009	Damages	Anna Mercado	Episodes: "I Agree, It Wasn't Funny", "London. Of Course"
2009-2012	Prisoners of War	Nurit Halvei-Zach	Recurring role (11 episodes)
2010	Damages	Anna Mercado	Episode: "The Dog Is Happier Without Her"
2010	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lenore Abrigaille	Episode: "Palimpsest"
2012	666 Park Avenue	Danielle Tyler	Episode: "Murmurations"
2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Laurie Colfax	Episode: "Manhattan Vigil"
2015	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Laurie Colfax	Episode: "Depravity Standard"

[ Source: Wikipedia ]