Mili Avital

Mili Avital (; born 30 March 1972) is an Israeli actress. Avital built a successful stage and film career in Israel, winning the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 and nominated for Best Actress in 1994. She portrayed Sha'uri in the 1994 featured film, .
== Early life ==
Avital was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of graphic designers Noni and Iko Avital. Her family is Jewish.http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/israeli-actress-mili-avital-is-back-on-hollywood-s-radar.premium-1.470900 She was raised in Tel Aviv and Ra'anana. She attended the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Giv'atayim. 
== Career ==
=== American career ===
As one of the most highly regarded actresses in her native Israel, Avital has created international success with her diverse starring roles in film, television and theater. She began her professional career during her senior year in high school, in the play 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 immediately cast as the female lead in Stargate, 1994, for which she received a Sci-fi Universe award. In 1999, she gave an outstanding performance as a rape victim from overseas wartime in the pilot episode of the long-running NBC legal drama, . Avital returned to the series in 2012 as the worried mother of an abducted child in the episode "Manhattan Vigil". She has appeared in films such as Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man opposite Johnny Depp, Doug Ellin's Kissing a Fool, Polish Wedding, Robert Benton's The Human Stain and When Do We Eat? Her television work includes portraying Scheherazade in the Emmy-nominated ABC miniseries Arabian Nights to rave reviews, Jon Avnet’s Uprising and After the Storm . In 2009-2010 Avital has appeared in the FX TV show Damages, in a recurring role as the mistress to the husband of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). She will appear in the upcoming 2012 ABC television series 666 Park Avenue.
In theater, Avital played Cordelia in King Lear at the Electric Lodge (), 2006, directed by Patsy Rodenburg.
Her directorial debut, a short documentary I Think Myself I am All the Time Younger,Mili Avital received its world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
=== Israeli career ===
Avital was first introduced to Israeli audience 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. 2006.Mili Avital - Other works In 2010 Avital is starring in Prisoners of War (aka Chatufim), a Channel 2 prime-time Israeli TV series. Avital was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series, and Prisoners of War won Best Drama Series at the 2010 Israeli TV awards. The second season of the massively successful show, which "Homeland" is based on, is airing in Israel summer 2012.
== Personal life ==
She moved to New York in 1994, and later dated David Schwimmer in the early 2000s. Avital continues to reside in New York City with her husband, screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Life of David Gale), and their son and daughter.
== Involvement in the Stargate universe ==
=== Actress ===
* Sha'uri ()
== Filmography ==
 Film and Television
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1999-2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Ava Parulis / Irina Parulis / Laurie Colfax / …	TV series, 3 episodes
2012 	666 Park Avenue 	Danielle Tyler 	TV series, 1 episode
2009-2012	Hatufim 	Nurit Halevi-Zach 	TV series, 11 episodes
2010 	Law & Order: Criminal Intent 	Lenore Abrigaille 	TV series, 1 episode
2009-2010	Damages 	Anna Mercado 	TV series, 3 episodes
2007 	Noodle 	Miri Calderone 	Film
2005 	When Do We Eat? 	Vanessa 	Film
2004 	Ahava Colombianit 	Tali Shalev 	Film
2003 	The Human Stain 	Young Iris 	Film
2003 	Shabatot VeHagim 	Noa 	TV series, 2 episodes
2002 	Haunted 	Eryn Towne 	TV series, 1 episods
2001 	Uprising 	Deworah Baron 	TV movie
2001 	After the Storm 	Coquina 	TV movie
2000 	Preston Tylk 	Emily Tylk 	Film
2000 	Arabian Nights 	Scheherezade 	TV movie
1999 	The Young Girl and the Monsoon 	Erin 	Film
1999 	Minotaur 	Thea 	Film
1998 	Kissing a Fool 	Samantha Andrews 	Film
1998 	Animals with the Tollkeeper 	Fatima 	Film
1998 	Polish Wedding 	Sofie 	Film
1997 	The End of Violence 	Featured Performer 	Film
1996 	Invasion of Privacy 	Theresa Barnes 	Film
1995 	Dead Man 	Thel Russell 	Film
1994 	Stargate 	Shau'ri 	Film
1993 	Groupie 	 	Film
1992 	Me'ever Layam 	Miri Goldfarb 	Film
== Awards and nominations ==
Avital won two awards.
Year	Award 	Category 	Work 	Result
1991	Award of the Israeli Film Academy	Best Actress 	Me'ever Layam	
1995	Universe Reader's Choice Award 	Best Supporting Actress in a Genre Motion Picture	Stargate 	
1997	Award of the Israeli Film Academy	Best Actress 	Minotaur 	
2007	Award of the Israeli Film Academy	Best Actress 	Noodle 	
== Notes ==
* Vaitiare Bandera, who plays Sha're in the Stargate SG-1 TV series, was auditioned for the role of Shau'ri in the 1994 film. She finaly lost it to Avital.
== References ==