MiliAvital
Actress, Director, Producer
About
Mili Avital is an award-winning Israeli‑American actress, writer, director and producer, who has maintained her international career over three decades.
Born in Jerusalem, she studied theatre at the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts. Her first film, Over the Ocean, won her the Ophir Award, Israel's Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to train at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York, and later in master classes with Philippe Gaulier and Larry Moss.
Her Hollywood career started when she was discovered as a waitress in a restaurant in New York. Two weeks later she was cast as the female lead in Stargate. She then went on to star in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man, followed by Wim Wenders' The End of Violence and Robert Benton's The Human Stain. On television she starred in the Emmy-nominated Arabian Nights and appeared in Damages and Law & Order: SVU. In Israel she starred in Gideon Raff's Prisoners of War (aka Hatufim), the series that inspired Homeland, earning an Israeli Television Award nomination, and in Kugel, the spin-off series of Shtisel. In Israeli film she is known for her roles in Noodle and the cult comedy Colombian Love.
She writes, directs and produces for stage and screen. Her documentary short I Think Myself I Am All the Time Younger premiered in 2004 at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Jerusalem Film Festival. Her youth play I Hear You, which she co-wrote with Shiri Artzi and produced with the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI) and Israel's Theater for the Youth, won Israel's 2024 Stage Award for Best Play and Best Playwriting in youth theatre. She directed Next Stop: A Comedy of Misconnections at the Broadway Comedy Club in New York.
Alongside her creative work she has long been active in social advocacy with the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI), and had served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Haifa (2009–2013).
Mili is based in New York with her husband, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Charles Randolph, and their two kids.
- 1992Ophir AwardBest Supporting Actress, Over the Ocean
- 1994Sci-Fi Universe AwardBest Supporting Actress, Stargate
- 2007Ophir Award nominationBest Actress, Noodle
- 2024Israel's Stage AwardBest Play and Best Playwriting, youth theatre, I Hear You
Acting
- 2026
For the Love of a Woman
Dir. Guido Chiesa - 2024
Mary
Netflix - 2024
Kugel
Yes TV · Dir. Erez Kav-El - 2010–12
Prisoners of War
Dir. Gideon RaffIsraeli Television Award nomination - 2009–10
Damages
FX - 2007
Noodle
Dir. Ayelet MenahemiOphir Award nomination, Best Actress - 2004
Colombian Love
Israel · Dir. Shay Kanot - 2003
The Human Stain
Dir. Robert Benton - 2000
Arabian Nights
ABCEmmy-nominated miniseries - 1999–2015
Law & Order: SVU
NBC - 1998
Kissing a Fool
Dir. Doug Ellin - 1997
The End of Violence
Dir. Wim Wenders - 1995
Dead Man
Dir. Jim Jarmusch - 1994
Stargate
Dir. Roland EmmerichSci-Fi Universe Award - 1992
Over the Ocean
Dir. Yankul GoldwasserOphir Award, Best Supporting Actress
Theatre
Full credits on IMDb- Stage
King Lear
Electric Lodge Theater, Los Angeles · Dir. Patsy Rodenburg - Stage
Dangerous Liaisons
Cameri Theatre, Tel Aviv · Dir. Simon Stokes
Other Work
How to Speak Israeli in Five Words
A talk by Mili Avital, in English. For more info and bookings: office@miliavital.com
How to Speak American in Five Words
A separate talk by Mili Avital, in Hebrew. For more info and bookings: office@miliavital.com
Next Stop: A Comedy of Misconnections
Director, co-writer, producer. Ran at the Broadway Comedy Club in New York from 2016 to 2021 and is now playing at Habima 4, Tel Aviv. @nextstoptheshow
I Think Myself I Am All the Time Younger
Writer, director and editor. Screened at the Tribeca and Jerusalem film festivals. Watch film
Memoir
A memoir about grief, loss and living between two cultures.
Boy Wants Dog
A silent illustrated picture book, written and illustrated by Mili.
Contact
Zohar Yakobson
zohar@zohar-agency.com