• ALONA TAL ONLINE • your best source for Israeli actress Alona Tal

Yediot Ahronot - May 12, 2006

This interview, in which the scans were donated by Alona herself, was also translated by Viv's friend from Hebrew. Thank you very much to you guys for this. Unfortunately, the scans don't start out at the beginning and are missing some parts to it so if anyone has the rest of it, and is willing to help out, please donate the rest. The link to the scan is in the center followed by the translation in that particular scan.

"AMERICAN DREAM"
Alona Tal, the busiest Israeli actress in USA, doesn't miss opportunities.

Note: This does not start from the beginning.
Stars arrive to an interview in two possible ways:
1. Before they hit stardom, especially at the beginning of their career when they try to play nice with the journalists and cooperate enthusiastically, sometimes by over exposing and pathetic gushing.
2. When their status is undoubted and they become allusive and place conditions to every media contact and answer the questions with no will.

There are also rare occasions, that are passed on like an urban legend of when they arrive as stars and show a mix of honesty and humble professionalism. And look at that – it's just the case with Alona Tal.

A couple of years ago, right after she left the army theatre and finished 2 successful seasons of "The Pijamas", it looked as if her way to the Israeli entertainment world was paved. She was one of the hottest names in TVK a meteor in the making, a kids queen potentially. Only instead of releasing teen journals and posing in her bathing suit, Tal flew to LA. Many wished her luck with the terrorists roles Hollywood is about to offer her.

So, you worked hard for over 2 years?
Pleasure, isn't it?

I don’t know, that's why I'm asking.
Of course, when you don’t work doubts creep in and you get restless.

Where you running all this time from one audition to the other?
Everyday. That's my job, that's what I do. And it's great, it means everyday I got a chance. A lot of 'no' and a very few 'almost'. It's really a mental thing.

Everyday? I thought Israelis find it hard to find a place in Hollywood?
It's hard on everybody. Even the Americans.

And even though, the whole landing gigs, the connections, the accent thing – kinda like winning the lottery, isn’t it?
You defined it well as for the feeling. But bottom line it wasn’t like that. It's combination of luck and a lot of hard work. I didn’t come to visit here for such a long time 'cause that's what was asked of me there.

You're probably in a cultural jet leg now.
Yeah, it's weird. Good weird, but weird.

Anyone who's done it in Hollywood can find a lot of opportunities here.
Really? Hadn’t noticed.

Veronica Mars isn’t just a teen show. With no Buffy, you can easily determine this is the hottest teen show at the moment. Even a one time guest star role in this show is what a lot of active actors wish for. Tal's role is something no one dares to dream about: on the outside, a good Christian who's also a perky cheerleader, on the inside, storms and dark sticky secrets. Her performance was perfect. Accent flawless. Tal won over the viewers and broke their hearts on the second season. It doesn’t pave her red carpets just yet and there's a long way to the Oscars but when she comes into an audition, no one asks "Alona who?" anymore.

The scariest scenario of a beginning superstar is to face moment from fame and fall the minute it hits you. It happened to Alona Tal. She was supposed to own the lead in VM. "I read in an interview with you it happened to Yair Lotan with '24' as well. And it is just like that. You're told that job is yours, you'll get an apartment, a car, you're the greatest. And then something happens."

Did you break?
Of course. I was devastated. It was supposed to be a tale for me.

But you wound up getting a juicy part.
In walks luck. I felt on a great creator (Rob Thomas) who's a great man. A man with a word. Thanks to him I got the working Visa which is the primary, hardest part. When they told me I still have a part in the series, I couldn’t be scraped off the ceiling.

Did you have any idea it'd be such a successful series?
I read the script for the Pilot and it was excellent. Witty writing, real issues. So yeah, I knew it was gonna be good. That's part of my great pride. People in the industry talk about this series and appreciate it, and the chance of being a part of it delights me.

You probably liked playing somewhat of a gloomy character after "The Pijamas".
A little gloomy? Yeah, it was fun. The character didn’t start like that. She was cute and mushy. But then we talked about how we can turn her into something other than that. Why is she's so perfect? The minute you start to analyze it, it gets more interesting. There was a lot of criticism on how my religious family in TV was showed. I read on the internet that people around here was shocked as well when I wore a cross. I felt weird too whenever I had to put it, I asked forgiveness for a thousand times.

It wasn’t like you acted a Nazi or something.
No, but it's the symbol. It does something to people.

Were you surprised by these reactions?
I was surprised, because it was weird for me, too. And for every "Why is she wearing a cross comment?" there were…

Unfortunately at this point, the scan was cut off and there is no continuing scan found.

Where do you see your career in 10 years?
10 years?! I don’t look that far. You can't. Most I can look at is next month. A part of life's biggest disappointments come when you plan too far off, living in a world that doesn’t exist and most likely won't happen.

The American dream unites actors all around the world. They come from everywhere and get excited over a random encounter with Al Pacino ("What will you have, sir?") to bumping into Steven Spielberg ("Where do you want the grocery bags, mister?"). For over 2 hours I tried to get a juicy name from Alona, to light this interview in a superstar light. I might as well tried to get the Israeli nuclear secrets out of her.

How does life between auditions look like?
Very calm.

Calm? In LA?
Absolutely. If you get sucked into everything that LA is supposed to be, then there are a lot of caves you best off not enter and if you do you might have to pay for it. I don’t get interested in those things, I don’t go out much.

But isn’t this Hollywood mingling all part of the job?
The concept where you're supposed to mingle at parties and premiers isn’t the only concept. If you like it, sure – go out, have a good time. But I think hard work will get you more. You may get a little part by bumping into a producer at a party, but I don’t want to get the parts this way.

What do you mean "get it this way"?
I've been asked "What, you don’t get offered a part if you go to bed with a producer?". I don’t present it as an option so it almost never gets to me. It happened to me once, but I took care of it.