By April MacIntyre Nov 4, 2009, 16:59 GMT
Sony Pictures web comedy “Woke Up Dead”, starring Jon Heder, Josh Gad, Krysten Ritter and Wayne Knight has introduced Meital Dohan to the cast.
Meital graduated from Nissan Nativ, Israel’s prestigious acting school, and has starred in many theater, television and film productions. She earned Israeli Oscar nominations for her performances in "God’s Sandbox" and "Giraffes," and turned out a great performance in a comedy role in "Ugliest Esti"- the Israeli Ugly
Not just a looker, Meital penned scripts and starred in the Israeli television show "Screen Warriors." She has written several plays, which have been performed in both Israel and New York, including the original revue "Love and Sex on the High Holidays" with well-known Israeli singer Ivri Lider. She co-wrote and starred in the hit comedy, "Bath Party" at the Here Theatre in New York.
In July 2007, Meital's first book, "Love and Other Bad Habits" was published in Israel. The third edition was recently donated to the women’s organization Lady’s Circle.
Meital Dohan turned heads in the US when she was cast as the sexy rabbinical scholar Yael Hoffman in the Showtime series "Weeds." She co-starred as Abby with John Ventimiglia in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway and LA productions of Anthony Neilson’s play "Stitching."
Now, Meital stars as the undead Aurora in "Woke Up Dead," the new live-action zombie comedy series starring Jon Heder that premiered on October 5, 2009 only on Crackle.com, Sony Picture Entertainment’s online video network.
She has just finished shooting several feature films that will be released later this year, among them "Monogamy," directed by Dana Adam Shapiro.
In the webbie, Heder stars as Drex Greene, a regular recent college grad who finds himself undergoing an inexplicable transformation that begins when he wakes up at the bottom of a water-filled bathtub.
Drex’s roommate Matt, who has been eagerly filming his demise, informs him that he’s easily (and inhumanly) been underwater for more than a half-hour. As he starts to develop zombie-like tendencies, Drex finds it increasingly difficult to focus on his new job and his love life, so he enlists the help of two friends, Cassie and Matt, to help him uncover the truth about the peculiar changes he is experiencing. In the process, Drex meets his match – an exotic beauty named Aurora – who may hold the answers to Drex’s many questions.
Monsters and Critics' smallscreen editor April MacIntyre caught up with Meital.
How did you become involved in this web series, how did you hear of it, and what was the audition process like for you?
Meital: I enjoyed reading for the casting director who I like as a person and appreciate very much.
Aurora is a riot, and you play her with the right amount of camp and humor. What was the best scene so far between her and Drex (Heder) ?
Meital: There is a scene Aurora is kissing Drex while holding a gun to his head. It is a was funny paradoxical moment. There was another one when Jon Heder's character Drex is running after me and I thought he would never catch up to me but apparently I found out he is pretty good shape.
Where are you from, and how did you get to Hollywood?
Meital: I got to Hollywood by swimming from the Tel Aviv shore, it was long way but eventually I made it... More seriously I was offered to do an off-broadway show in New York and I was very curious to take a bite of the Big Apple.
Then I found myself on series like 'Weeds' which is a marvelous show. Since then I have been working on a lot of interesting projects like Woke Up Dead.
The tattoos-give me some background on the symbol on your arm and chest.
Meital: There is an interesting story because in the previous film I shot in New York, Monogamy, I had a tattoo on my ankle, and after the shoot was done I got a henna tattoo of a power symbol.
What's funny is that on Woke Up Dead they gave me the same power symbol tattoo.
The sequence where Aurora shoots herself in the arm, how long did it take makeup to create then erase the bullet wound?
Meital: I can't believe you thought it was fake... it took us about three hours to shoot the whole sequence from make-up to wrapping the scene.
I wish all the zombie fans and all those who will be zombie fans after watching Woke Up Dead great enjoyment from watching this series.
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