After essaying a series of roles in her native Israel that carried her through her thirties, actress Ayelet Zurer relocated to Los Angeles and achieved a dual breakthrough in 2005: Steven Spielberg cast her as the wife of a Mossad agent in his period thriller Munich, and Israeli producers recruited her to play one of the leads on BeTipul ("In Treatment"), a blockbuster prime-time drama on local television in Israel. Zurer subsequently chalked up a covetable series of Hollywood roles, typically playing characters of variable Middle Eastern origin; projects included Paul Schrader's Holocaust-themed drama Adam Resurrected (2007) and Pete Travis' assassination-themed political thriller Vantage Point (2008, as a European paramedic with possible ties to clandestine groups).
Ayelet Zurer
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- Mother is a Holocaust survivor who spent World War II hiding in a convent.
- Modeled in Japan for a summer while in college.
- Has been called the "Julia Roberts of Israel."
- Won the prestigious Ophir Award for Best Actress for 2003's Nina's Tragedies.
- Starred in BeTipul, which was adapted for American audiences as In Treatment. For her performance, she won the Israeli equivalent of an Emmy Award.
- Made her English-language debut in Munich, in 2005, as Eric Bana's pregnant wife Daphna.