Ayelet Zurer
4.8
6 votes
Astrological Zodiac sign: Cancer
Age: 43
Ayelet Zurer (Hebrew: איילת זורר) is an Israeli actress, perhaps best known for her roles in Nina’s Tragedies, Adam Resurrected, Munich, and Angels & Demons. She is one of the most critically acclaimed actresses in Israel.
Zurer, who has appeared in many Israeli films and television series, was nominated for awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Israeli Academy Awards and the Israeli Television Academy Awards. She won Best Actress awards for her roles in the Israeli film Nina’s Tragedies and Betipul, an Israeli drama series which was adapted into the award winning HBO series, In Treatment. Aside from Betipul, her past television roles include Israeli series Inyan Shel Zman, Florentin, Zinzana, Hadar Milhama and others.
Zurer was born and raised in Tel Aviv. Her father was a government worker and her mother spent World War II hiding in a convent in Czechoslovakia. After the war, Zurer's mother was reunited with her parents, former sawyers who survived the war by hiding. The family relocated to Tel Aviv, where Zurer was born and raised.
After finishing her military service, she moved to New York, where she developed her acting skills.
Zurer moved back to Israel in 1991. In 1992, she starred in the television series Inyan Shel Zman, and in 1993, she played the lead role in the Israeli film Nikmato Shel Itzik Finkelstein. During this time she also participated in the cable television show Yetziat Hirum. In 1997, Zurer played the role of Shira Steinberg in the television show Florentin on the Israeli Channel 2. In 2000, Zurer participated in the Israeli television series Zinzana, and in 2002, she participated in the Israeli television series Shalva and Ha'Block.
In 2005, Zurer starred in the Israeli hit television series, Betipul, a widely popular drama about a psychologist and his patients' therapy process. She played the role of Na'ama Lerner, a seductive patient who initiates a romance with the doctor (portrayed by Assi Dayan). The series won her a Best Actress award from the Israeli Television Academy and was remade as the highly successful Emmy-and-Golden Globe-winning HBO series, In Treatment. The following year Zurer participated in an Israeli sketch comedy television show called Gomrot Holchot that deals with the world of young women; relationships, marriage, sex, career, etc. The show is based on the British sketch comedy show Smack the Pony.
In 1998 she achieved the lead role in the film Ahava Asura (aka The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field) starring Moshe Ivgy. In 2001, she starred in the movies Laila Lelo Lola and Kikar Ha'Halomot. In 2003, Zurer starred in Nina's Tragedies, portraying the title character, Nina, in one of her best known roles. Nina's role depicts a passionate young woman who must carve out a new life for herself after her husband's sudden death. She has won an Israeli Academy Award for Best Actress for this role.
Zurer's first international role was in Steven Spielberg's Munich (which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture), where she played Eric Bana's wife. She later played the role of an exotic terrorist, Veronica, in the American thriller Vantage Point, appearing alongside Dennis Quaid, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. Her next international role was in Paul Schrader's Adam Resurrected, where she played Gina Grey, a nurse who falls in love with the title character, Adam Stein, a disturbed Holocaust survivor played by Jeff Goldblum. In 2007, Zurer starred in Fugitive Pieces, the story of a boy who survives the Holocaust in Greece and becomes a troubled young adult who falls in love with her character.
In April 2008, Zurer was cast as the female lead, Vittoria Vetra, in the The Da Vinci Code prequel, Angels & Demons, chosen over more well-known stars, including Naomi Watts, who had been in talks for the role. Zurer's character is the daughter of a CERN physicist who, after her father's murder, pairs with Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) on a journey to uncover the mystery behind her father's death and stop a terrorist plot.
Zurer has appeared in Israeli plays such as Ha'Yoreshet, Madrich Nashim Le'Tohu Va'Vohu, Bigdei Ha'Melech, Bo'u Lo Nedaber Al Ze, Ohavim Et Ophal, and Monologim Me'Ha'Vaginah. In the United States, she has appeared in plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard III.
Zurer has modeled for fashion companies such as HONiGMAN and Golf. She was chosen ninth in TCCandler.com's 100 most beautiful faces of 2008. Zurer has also illustrated the pictures for the 1999 fantasy book Be'Edulina by Gabi Nitzan, an Israeli author.
As of 2007, Zurer lives in California with her husband Gilad Londovski and their son, Liad, born in 2005.
See also: Actress, Israeli, Jewish, Munich, Angels & Demons
