The Israeli presence in Hollywood is becoming ever more noticeable. With an Israeli Wonder Woman breaking box office records, Hollywood can’t get enough of the Holly Land starlets. These five leading ladies are the cream of the crop. From the outstanding talent of Academy Award Winning Actress Natalie Portman to the superhero Gal Gadot and up-coming Inbal Amirav these actresses are celebrated members of the industry.
Gal Gadot
After winning Miss Israel in 2004, Gadot made her film debut in 2009 as Gisele in the fourth edition of The Fast and the Furious. She went on to feature in the next two sequels of the
vie. But it was in 2017 when Gadot grabbed the entertainment world’s attention with her star performance as Wonder Woman and phenomenal record-breaking box office success, which propelled her to be arguably the hottest name in Hollywood right now and Israel’s national treasure.
Natalie Portman
The strikingly talented Portman was born in Jerusalem as Natalie Hershlag, before moving to the US at a young age. Portman made her feature film debut as Mathilda, the young protégée of a hitman, in Léon: The Professional. She gained international recognition for starring as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I and Episode II. She won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in the 2010 movie Black Swan and her portrayal of the American First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, earned her a SAG Award in addition to nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Actress.
Inbal Amirav
Amirav was born in Ramat HaSharon and grew up in Hod HaSharon, Israel. While still a student, Amirav began traveling back and forth from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles, and her Hollywood debut was in David Fincher’s The Social Network. She landed roles on the hit shows CSI and SWAT, but it’s thanks to her role in It Rarely Stops, that Amirav has joined an elite group of Israeli actresses who have a special place in Hollywood. The received critical acclaim and landed on the ballot for the Primetime Emmy® Awards. It was unanimously praised by major professional media, who extolled Amirav’s moving performance, she won a Webby® Award for Best Individual Performance and attended the ceremony together with 2018 fellow winning actors Adam Sandler, Laura Linney, and David Harbour.
Ayelet Zurer
Zurer is one of Israeli cinema’s most established names. She won an Israeli Academy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. Her Hollywood breakthrough came in 2005 after playing Eric Bana’s wife in Munich, Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated historical drama. She then played alongside Tom Hanks in the 2009 mystery-thriller Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons. She played Superman’s mother, Lara Lor-Van, in the reboot of the Superman franchise, Man of Steel- a DC Comics character, as well as Vanessa Marianna, in the hit Netflix drama Daredevil – which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.