Michael Aloni Goes from Haredi Artist in ‘Shtisel’ to Family Scion in ‘Beauty Queen of Jerusalem’
variety.comMalina Saval Associate Editor, FeaturesIsraeli actor Michael Aloni enchanted American audiences as Akiva, a soulful Haredi artist looking for true love in the Net- flix series “Shtisel,” which chronicles an ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem’s Geula neighborhood.
Aloni, who has appeared in Keshet Media Group’s “When Heroes Fly” and Hagai Levi’s “Scenes From a Marriage,” now stars as patriarch Gabriel Ermoza in “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” Oded Davidoff ’s multigenerational saga about a Sephardic Jewish family living in Jerusalem.
The series extends from the Ottoman Empire through Israel’s War of Independence. The first 10 episodes bowed on Netflix in May; part two drops July 29.
Aloni talks to Variety about the show, his expanding career and future projects. How does it feel to have Israeli series gain such widespread popularity on American streamers? I’m just happy that “Shtisel” and “When Heroes Fly” and all the work that we are doing is able to spread its wings and touch so many people around the world, especially in the States.
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