During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been spending more time than ever watching television and that has propelled forward the careers of two brilliant young Israeli actresses: Shira Haas of Unorthodox and Niv Sultan of Tehran.
Haas has been having a year that any actress would envy and she has broken out worldwide in a way that is extraordinary for an Israeli. Her performance in Netflix’s Unorthodox as a young ultra-Orthodox woman who runs away from her oppressive marriage in Brooklyn and finds happiness and artistic fulfillment in Berlin generated a great deal of buzz, received rave reviews and garnered her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. The trapped look on her face in Unorthodox as her head is shaved before her wedding won over audience hearts and has led to a flurry of interviews in the world press and glamorous photo shoots. Her unadulterated joy when she learned she had gotten an Emmy nod, which she broadcast live, was a breath of fresh air in a tough year.
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She had already won international fans for her performance as a dutiful haredi daughter in the Israeli television drama, Shtisel, and had also been seen by movie audiences around the world in the Israeli films Princess and Foxtrot.
Niv Sultan is at the center of Tehran, the latest series poised to become an international hit a la Fauda. Sultan plays Tamar, a Mossad agent from an Iranian family who infiltrates Tehran in order to take down its nuclear program. She carried the whole series on her narrow shoulders and audiences were glued to their televisions every Monday night whenever the latest episode would air in Israel. International viewers will get to know Sultan’s work when Tehran becomes available on Apple TV Plus in late September.