GO - July 11, 2007

"Go Alona Go"
By: Hila Regev

After 'The Pijamas', a role in 'Veronica Mars', a record with Wyclef Jean, Alona Tal adds wedding to her resume. Please welcome our hottest ambassador in Hollywood.

    Quietly, without any bombastic interviews about her success, Alona Tal (24) has managed to work up her way in Hollywood. Alona, Good-Girl-Herzliya, has managed to star in impressive guest appearances, that culminated in her role as 'Meg Manning' in the excellent teen-drama show 'Veronica Mars'. The role, by the way, was written especially for Alona after the director was impressed by her.

    While this interview is being conducted [the beginning of June], Alona is staying in Israel to celebrate her soon wedding with the Mexican actor Marcos Ferraez (41), who starred in 'Pacific Blue', with whom she shares a large apartment in L.A.

Alona, Congratulations!

"Thank you. I can truly say that my fiance is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He supports me with all his heart, and he is a rare person in this world."

"My heart doesn't care."

To Alona the age difference is not an issue.

"My heart doesn't care how old my fiancé is. There will always be people who will have something to say about that, but as soon as they will see how much we love each other, they will understand that we have something real that you can't ignore and you can only be jealous of. The way I deal with it is just to not take it personally."

Do you speak Spanish with him?

"Funny that you ask. Until the age of 8, I knew Spanish because we had a maid in our home from Panama that only knew Spanish, so I had no choice but to learn the language. Afterwards when she returned to Panama I had no one to talk to so I forgot it. Now I understand Spanish and am learning how to speak it again. It's a really fun language, and you can definitely say that I have an incentive to learn it."

How do you explain the onrush of Israeli beauties after famous Christian celebrities? Bar Rafaeli hooked up with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sari Givati is spending days and nights in hotels with Olivier Martinez and now you are getting married with a Latin guy?

"I was not raised to love people according to their religion or heritage but simply to love good people with good hearts, and Marcos definitely fits this definition. You know, life has a funny way to lead you to the person you are supposed to be with. God touched me and brought me half a world apart until I found true love, and I don't think you can criticize someone who finds love just because it doesn't fit the 'usual definitions'. I choose to be with Marcos because he is a good person, who taught me to be a good person. Today we live in a global world, so there are almost no limits to love."

"Tel Aviv – L.A."

    Alona is also doing pretty good in the show biz. After 2 years of living in Los Angeles, she already calls it 'home' and after her wedding visit to Israel, Alona will return to shoot a new show called 'Cane' in the CBS network. The show portrays the life of a Cuban family in America and its sugar and cane businesses. "The show looks a bit like 'The Sopranos' but it's not", explains Alona. Alona stars in the role of Rebecca King, the American girlfriend of one of the family members.

Describe to me a day in the life of a young starlet in L.A.

"Every day is different depending on whether I have a shoot. I wake up in 7:30 AM, drink coffee, browse news sites on the web, read Israeli websites, do research for roles I play, go to auditions, take the dog for a walk in the park and then return home, waiting for my fiancé to return from work. We like to stay home, basically I'm much more a 'stay-at-home girl' than an going-out type."

What about parties, doing cocaine in the bathroom, living the Hollywood way of life?

"It's not all glamorous. It takes a lot of hard work and things aren't what they seem to be. Someone close to me once told me, "Even in the most glamorous movies, if you look close you'll see the boom [microphone in the ceiling] in the frame". There are a lot of young women in this town and you have to open your eyes and not be tempted to everything people offer you. I personally don't go to a lot of parties since I'm engaged. On the other hand, some parties are really fun. You get to meet a lot of amazing people and there is also this undeniable element of Hollywood glimmer. But in the bottom line, it's not me and I don't want to be tagged as some wild party goer."

“I'm more patriotic here."

What do you miss the most in Israel?

"My family and my friends, no doubt."

Do the fans here irritate you?

"Meeting fans is a great pleasure for me. They are not stalking me and as far as I'm concern it's part of the job. In Israel, I'm more recognized than in L.A. and I have yet to encounter paparazzi photographers."

Do you feel more Israeli in L.A?

"In the summer, for example when there was war here, I worked in L.A. and people always asked me questions about the war and about how people in Israel feel. So I found myself explaining and defending our side. I defended Israel, even though I didn't know all the details. Because when you live abroad, you don't live it like you live here with special reports 24/7; at the most, you get updates from news sites and from talking on the phone with people in Israel. You can't say bad things about Israel when I'm nearby because I always get into a fight about it. I'm more patriotic now than when I was in Israel, because it makes you distinct to be foreign here. I also don't look Israeli, so people are always surprised to hear where I'm from."

Do you spend weekends with the Israeli community in Los Angeles?

"Not really. I have only one Israeli friend, Nicole Dextra [a model and Guy Arieli's ex-girlfriend]. I talk to her all the time but besides that I spends most of my time with Marcos and some local friends."

To conclude, do you have a message to the people here in Israel?

    At this part of the interview, for the first time, Alona becomes a bit shy: "Who am I to send any message to the people of Israel?" After I urge her a bit, Alona picks the ecological option, that all of Hollywood has adopted, or so it seems. "We should take care of the environment", she declares happily. "It's about time we start taking responsibility on things that really matter in life. I have donated money to environmental organizations, and recently bought a Hybrid car. I also make an effort to ride bicycles instead of driving a car. We must not ignore the consequences of our actions." she concludes.

And if Alona says that, she knows.

Translation: Thanks to Ido!