Meital Dohan
Encyclopedia
Meital Dohan is an Israel
i comedian, stage, television and film actress, and playwright known in the U.S. for her recurring role as Yael Hoffman in the Showtime series Weeds
, for her role of Abby in the Anthony Neilson
play Stitching
, and her work on the Sony Pictures web comedy Woke Up Dead
. She currently stars in the dramatic thriller Monogamy
, directed and co-written by Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro
, alongside Rashida Jones
and Chris Messina
.
in central Israel. She began studying acting at thirteen, and landed a spot in the Israel Defense Forces
Entertainment Corps, later studying at Nissan Nativ
acting school
. During her studies, she received scholarship
s from the America Israel Cultural Foundation
. In her first year of studies, she wrote, directed, and acted in an original theatre movement production. During the second year of studies, she began working in a variety of television productions and performed in two feature films in her third year. Before graduating, Dohan had signed a contract with Israel's Cameri Theater
.
. Since then, she has appeared in several other roles, including Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
. In 2002, Dohan played a role in Bad Children, a part that was written especially for her by the Israeli playwright Edna Mazya. She won an award from the Cameri Theater for this role.
Dohan sang and acted in Moving Flesh at the Cameri Theater, a theater play that she directed at Tmuna Theater, and co-wrote the original Revue Love and Sex on the High Holidays with Israeli singer Ivri Lider
.
Among other roles, Dohan played Layla in God's Sandbox (2002 Manchester film festival
winner), and Efrat in Giraffes (2003 Scottsdale Arizona Film Festival winner) – roles that earned her the Israeli Oscar nomination.
Dohan recently co-wrote a movie script, Orgy by Heart, along with Maayan Keret, which is in its early stages of production. In her latest TV series production, Ugliest Esti, Dohan plays the central comedy role, Nataly. The series won the TV Oscar for Best Comedy Series award in 2003, and Dohan won an Israeli Tony Award for her work in the series for her lead role.
Later in 2003, Dohan was invited by Karen Shefler to play the role of the bride in Blood Wedding by Lorca
. Since then, Dohan began working on a number of other projects in the United States, among them Bath Party, an original multimedia
play written jointly with Karen Shefler and Ayelet Dekel, who was also the video director, and Love and Sex on the High Holidays with well-known Israeli singer Ivri Lide.
In 2008, she appeared in both the Off-Broadway
and Los Angeles
productions of the play Stitching by controversial British playwright
Anthony Neilson
and directed by Timothy Haskell, an example of "in-yer-face" theatre, the play sought to confront the audience with shocking and sometimes vulgar depictions of human behavior
.
In 2009, she appeared in two episodes of the online series "Woke Up Dead" as the character Aurora.
For her role in Giraffes she studied French
, and for her role in the feature film To Dance (2004), she studied belly dancing
.
In 2010, Dohan became the official Spokesperson for Artists 4 Israel" and their murality mission "Paint Israel" to paint the bomb shelters in Sderot
and show that America's young, graffiti community supports the people of Israel.
In January 2011, and marking her return to theater, Dohan headlined the Alan Bowne
stage play Beirut
in a limited revival directed by Andrew and Zach Zoppa in New York City.
In 2011, Dohan starred in the dramatic thriller Monogamy
directed and written by Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro. The film centralizes around the strained relationship of a Brooklyn
couple, Theo (Chris Messina
) and Nat (Rashida Jones
). The film won "Best Narrative" at the Tribeca Film Festival
.
Dohan has authored the book, Love and Other Bad Habits, and in January 2011, she launched the webcast talk radio show, Loud Miracles which airs on Women's Radio. On her show Dohan declared "I am fascinated by Transcendental Meditation
and the effects of it. I was so taken by this technique that now we are talking about bringing more awareness to it and bringing it to people that serve in the Israeli Army".
also spoke well of Bath Party, comparing Dohan to "a younger, prettier, blonder Rosanna Arquette
," noting it as an essentially a one-woman show which "focuses on her not particularly interesting efforts to jump-start an American career, complete with film and television clips, circumlocutory monologues and, perhaps most important for this particular performer, multiple opportunities to reveal her appealing anatomy," and also praising the work of the few others in the cast.
Of Dohan's work in the Anthony Neilson
play Stitching
, The New York Times
wrote "With an actress as extremely gorgeous as Meital Dohan and a script that requires her to thrash around in ways most often seen in straight-to-video steamers, you would think thatStitching would be heating up the Wild Project theater to the boiling point." They found that it did not, blaming the Neilson script for working "so hard at being gimmicky that it doesn’t give Ms. Dohan and her co-star, Gian Murray Gianino, a chance to find real chemistry. No chemistry, no combustion." They granted that the two leads " give energetic, bruise-inducing performances under Timothy Haskell’s direction", but that the script's manner of ricocheting "from comedy to pathos to psychosis without ever really providing the starting point that any play needs" placed too many demands on them.
, The Los Angeles Times stated, "Meital Dohan has no lines in the indie thriller, but her sexy, mysterious presence helps propel the film..." They note that even though he character has no lines in the film, she receives top billing.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i comedian, stage, television and film actress, and playwright known in the U.S. for her recurring role as Yael Hoffman in the Showtime series Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
, for her role of Abby in the Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson is a Scottish playwright and director commonly associated with the "in-yer-face theatre" movement and is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. His work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence...
play Stitching
Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson is a Scottish playwright and director commonly associated with the "in-yer-face theatre" movement and is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. His work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence...
, and her work on the Sony Pictures web comedy Woke Up Dead
Woke Up Dead
Woke Up Dead is an American horror/comedy web series starring Jon Heder as a young man who awakes in a full bathtub after 'drowning' and has no heartbeat, prompting his friends to believe him to be a zombie. The show premiered on Sony Pictures Entertainment owned Crackle on October 5, 2009...
. She currently stars in the dramatic thriller Monogamy
Monogamy (film)
Monogamy, directed and co-written by Dana Adam Shapiro, is about the strained relationship of an engaged Brooklyn couple, Theo and Nat...
, directed and co-written by Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro
Dana Adam Shapiro
Dana Adam Shapiro is an American film director, best known for his directorial work on the 2006 Academy Award nominated documentary Murderball.-Career:...
, alongside Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
and Chris Messina
Chris Messina
Chris Messina may refer to:*Chris Messina *Chris Messina...
.
Early life
Meital Dohan was born and raised in a small village outside Ra'ananaRa'anana
Ra'anana is a city in the heart of the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel with a population of 68,300, . Ra'anana is bordered by Kfar Sava on the east and Herzliya on the southwest...
in central Israel. She began studying acting at thirteen, and landed a spot in the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
Entertainment Corps, later studying at Nissan Nativ
Nissan Nativ
Nissan Nativ was an Israeli actor, director and acting teacher.-Biography:...
acting school
Drama school
A drama school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution ; which specialises in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts, such as acting, design and technical theatre, arts administration, and...
. During her studies, she received scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s from the America Israel Cultural Foundation
America Israel Cultural Foundation
The America Israel Cultural Foundation was established in 1939 to support the growth and development of Israel. Originally established as the American Fund for Palestinian Institutions, after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 the name was changed to the American Fund for Israeli...
. In her first year of studies, she wrote, directed, and acted in an original theatre movement production. During the second year of studies, she began working in a variety of television productions and performed in two feature films in her third year. Before graduating, Dohan had signed a contract with Israel's Cameri Theater
Cameri Theater
The Cameri Theater , established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center....
.
Career
Dohan graduated from Nissan Nativ in 1998, and joined two major theaters. By 2000, she was voted 'Most Promising New Actress' for her work in Best Friends, performed at the Cameri TheaterCameri Theater
The Cameri Theater , established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center....
. Since then, she has appeared in several other roles, including Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
. In 2002, Dohan played a role in Bad Children, a part that was written especially for her by the Israeli playwright Edna Mazya. She won an award from the Cameri Theater for this role.
Dohan sang and acted in Moving Flesh at the Cameri Theater, a theater play that she directed at Tmuna Theater, and co-wrote the original Revue Love and Sex on the High Holidays with Israeli singer Ivri Lider
Ivri Lider
Ivri Lider is an Israeli pop rock singer-songwriter. He is one of the biggest-selling contemporary artists in Israeli music, and has won the Male Singer of the Year honor from major Israeli national and local radio stations since entering the Israeli music scene in the late 1990s...
.
Among other roles, Dohan played Layla in God's Sandbox (2002 Manchester film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
winner), and Efrat in Giraffes (2003 Scottsdale Arizona Film Festival winner) – roles that earned her the Israeli Oscar nomination.
Dohan recently co-wrote a movie script, Orgy by Heart, along with Maayan Keret, which is in its early stages of production. In her latest TV series production, Ugliest Esti, Dohan plays the central comedy role, Nataly. The series won the TV Oscar for Best Comedy Series award in 2003, and Dohan won an Israeli Tony Award for her work in the series for her lead role.
Later in 2003, Dohan was invited by Karen Shefler to play the role of the bride in Blood Wedding by Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
. Since then, Dohan began working on a number of other projects in the United States, among them Bath Party, an original multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
play written jointly with Karen Shefler and Ayelet Dekel, who was also the video director, and Love and Sex on the High Holidays with well-known Israeli singer Ivri Lide.
In 2008, she appeared in both the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
productions of the play Stitching by controversial British playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson is a Scottish playwright and director commonly associated with the "in-yer-face theatre" movement and is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. His work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence...
and directed by Timothy Haskell, an example of "in-yer-face" theatre, the play sought to confront the audience with shocking and sometimes vulgar depictions of human behavior
Human behavior
Human behavior refers to the range of behaviors exhibited by humans and which are influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics....
.
In 2009, she appeared in two episodes of the online series "Woke Up Dead" as the character Aurora.
For her role in Giraffes she studied French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and for her role in the feature film To Dance (2004), she studied belly dancing
Belly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
.
In 2010, Dohan became the official Spokesperson for Artists 4 Israel" and their murality mission "Paint Israel" to paint the bomb shelters in Sderot
Sderot
Sderot is a western Negev city in the Southern District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 20,700. The city has been an ongoing target of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip...
and show that America's young, graffiti community supports the people of Israel.
In January 2011, and marking her return to theater, Dohan headlined the Alan Bowne
Alan Bowne
Alan Bowne was an American playwright and author. He was a member of the New Dramatists.He wrote a number of plays including Beirut, Forty-Deuce, Sharon and Billy, and The Beany and Cecil Show, many of which are available from Broadway Play Publishing Inc..He also wrote one novel Wally Wonderstruck...
stage play Beirut
Alan Bowne
Alan Bowne was an American playwright and author. He was a member of the New Dramatists.He wrote a number of plays including Beirut, Forty-Deuce, Sharon and Billy, and The Beany and Cecil Show, many of which are available from Broadway Play Publishing Inc..He also wrote one novel Wally Wonderstruck...
in a limited revival directed by Andrew and Zach Zoppa in New York City.
In 2011, Dohan starred in the dramatic thriller Monogamy
Monogamy (film)
Monogamy, directed and co-written by Dana Adam Shapiro, is about the strained relationship of an engaged Brooklyn couple, Theo and Nat...
directed and written by Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro. The film centralizes around the strained relationship of a Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
couple, Theo (Chris Messina
Chris Messina
Chris Messina may refer to:*Chris Messina *Chris Messina...
) and Nat (Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
). The film won "Best Narrative" at the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
.
Dohan has authored the book, Love and Other Bad Habits, and in January 2011, she launched the webcast talk radio show, Loud Miracles which airs on Women's Radio. On her show Dohan declared "I am fascinated by Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique, a specific form of mantra meditation, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement, a spiritual movement...
and the effects of it. I was so taken by this technique that now we are talking about bringing more awareness to it and bringing it to people that serve in the Israeli Army".
Television
- Puzzle (1 episode, 1999)
- Shemesh (1 episode, 2000) as Sarit
- Lochamey HaMasach (2002)
- Shaul (1 episode, 2002)
- My First Sony (2002)
- Esti HaMekho'eret (2003–2004) as Natalie Bushari-Mark
- Elvis, Rosental VeHaIsha HaMistorit (2005) as Natalie Bushari-Mark
- Elvis (2006) as Natalie Bushari-Mark
- The SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
(1 episode, 2006) as Yael - WeedsWeeds (TV series)Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
(6 episodes, 2006) as Yael Hoffman - Lo Hivtachti Lach (2006)
- Pa'am BaChayim (2007)
- Woke Up DeadWoke Up DeadWoke Up Dead is an American horror/comedy web series starring Jon Heder as a young man who awakes in a full bathtub after 'drowning' and has no heartbeat, prompting his friends to believe him to be a zombie. The show premiered on Sony Pictures Entertainment owned Crackle on October 5, 2009...
(9 episodes, 2009) as Aurora
Film
- Agadat HaIsh SheShatak (The Legend of the Silent Man) (1998)
- Bli Daf Hora'ot (Instructions Not Included) (1999)
- Girafot (2001) as Efrat
- Disphoria (2004) as Danielle
- Tahara (God's Sandbox) (2004)
- If Only He'd Call (2006)
- Lirkod (The Belly Dancer) (2006) as Deby
- Failing Better Now (2010)
- MonogamyMonogamy (film)Monogamy, directed and co-written by Dana Adam Shapiro, is about the strained relationship of an engaged Brooklyn couple, Theo and Nat...
(2010) as. Subgirl - ForeclosureForeclosureForeclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
(2011) - Ponies (2010) (in production) as Aliah
Theater
Of her play Bath Party, co-written with Karen Shefler and Ayelet Dekel, Village Voice praised Dohan's work in the play, writing "What saves the piece from being a purely wandering, aimless morass is the droll humor and keen comedic timing of Dohan and her associates. Dohan has a sharp wit and notable ability to find the unlikely joke." In speaking toward her work with her co-stars, they wrote "Their quick banter and easy back-and-forth are polished and at times charming, and together they make even the most disjointed material a pleasure to watch." The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
also spoke well of Bath Party, comparing Dohan to "a younger, prettier, blonder Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Lauren Arquette is an American actress, film director, and producer.-Early life:Arquette was born in New York City, the daughter of Brenda Olivia "Mardi" , an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director. Her paternal...
," noting it as an essentially a one-woman show which "focuses on her not particularly interesting efforts to jump-start an American career, complete with film and television clips, circumlocutory monologues and, perhaps most important for this particular performer, multiple opportunities to reveal her appealing anatomy," and also praising the work of the few others in the cast.
Of Dohan's work in the Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson is a Scottish playwright and director commonly associated with the "in-yer-face theatre" movement and is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. His work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence...
play Stitching
Anthony Neilson
Anthony Neilson is a Scottish playwright and director commonly associated with the "in-yer-face theatre" movement and is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. His work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote "With an actress as extremely gorgeous as Meital Dohan and a script that requires her to thrash around in ways most often seen in straight-to-video steamers, you would think thatStitching would be heating up the Wild Project theater to the boiling point." They found that it did not, blaming the Neilson script for working "so hard at being gimmicky that it doesn’t give Ms. Dohan and her co-star, Gian Murray Gianino, a chance to find real chemistry. No chemistry, no combustion." They granted that the two leads " give energetic, bruise-inducing performances under Timothy Haskell’s direction", but that the script's manner of ricocheting "from comedy to pathos to psychosis without ever really providing the starting point that any play needs" placed too many demands on them.
Recognition
Of Dohan's work in the film MonogamyMonogamy (film)
Monogamy, directed and co-written by Dana Adam Shapiro, is about the strained relationship of an engaged Brooklyn couple, Theo and Nat...
, The Los Angeles Times stated, "Meital Dohan has no lines in the indie thriller, but her sexy, mysterious presence helps propel the film..." They note that even though he character has no lines in the film, she receives top billing.
Awards and nominations
- 2002, nominated for Israeli Academy Award Nominee for 'Best Actress' for her role in Giraffes,
- 2003, nominated for Israeli Academy Award Nominee for 'Best Actress' for her role in God's Sandbox
- Won Israeli Tony Award for her work in Cameri TheaterCameri TheaterThe Cameri Theater , established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center....
and for her lead role in the Israeli Emmy winning series Ugliest Esti - Israeli Theater Award (Israel equivalent Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s 2000) for Most Promising Actress for her role as Sofi in Best Girlfriend - Cameri Theater Scholarship for Deserving Young Actress, 1999
- American Israel Foundation Scholarship 1996, 1997