Alona Tal (Hebrew: אלונה טל, IPA: [aˈlona ˈtal]; born October 20, 1983[1]) is an Israeli actress and singer. She is known for her roles in Veronica Mars as cheerleader Meg Manning, in Supernatural as budding monster hunter Jo Harvelle, as Sonya Lebedenko in the final season of Burn Notice, in SEAL Team as grad student Stella Baxter and as Kayla Craig in the Amazon Studios miniseries Cross.
Alona Tal | |
|---|---|
אלונה טל | |
 Tal at the Children Uniting Nations Academy Award Viewing Party in 2009 | |
| Born | October 20, 1983 |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
editAlona Tal was born and raised in Herzliya, Israel.[2] Her father Ami Tal is a computer professional of both Sephardi Jewish and Mizrahi Jewish (Turkish-Jewish) descent, whose original surname was originally "Mizrahi"; whereas her mother Ayala (née Sabat) is a lawyer and is of Ashkenazi Jewish (Polish-Jewish) descent.[3] Both her parents were born in Israel. Her parents divorced when she was 9.[2] She has two sisters as well as two half-sisters from her father's later relationship.[2] She attended the Thelma Yellin High School in Givatayim, Israel, majoring in theatre.[2] She is Jewish and has described herself as a "spiritual person".[4] She served in the military theatre of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).[2]
Career
editTal started her career after her military service, with a children's musical video tape in which she played an evil witch. Following that, she appeared in a commercial for a laundry detergent, and then appeared in the lead role in the Israeli film Lihiyot Kochav (To Be A Star).
During the filming of the movie Tal was offered two roles in two different Israeli television shows, and she took both. The first was a soap opera named Tzimerim, about the life of a family that runs a hotel; the second one was HaPijamot (The Pyjamas), a sitcom about a struggling band determined to make it in the real world. She took part in the first three seasons and later took part as a guest star which gave her the chance to show her musical talent. Although she was the main character only in the first three seasons, she appeared in the fourth season for several episodes.
Tal also appeared in the music video for "Final Warning", by Skylar Grey.
Tal moved to New York City, where she met singer Wyclef Jean and recorded a song with him (the song "Party to Damascus" has Tal singing the chorus in Hebrew).[citation needed]
She landed a role on Veronica Mars, that of Meg Manning, one of Veronica Mars's few friends. She also played the recurring role Jo Harvelle on the second, fifth, and seventh seasons of Supernatural. Tal also guest-starred on the series finale of Monk as Adrian Monk's stepdaughter, Molly Evans. In 2010, she performed the voice of Catherine-B320 (also known as Kat) in the video game Halo: Reach. In 2013, she starred in the mystery series Cult. She played the role of "Sonya" in the seventh and final season of Burn Notice.
In November 2020, Tal was cast as Ivy in the second season of the drama series Truth be Told.[5]
Personal life
editOn March 23, 2005, Tal married American actor Marcos A. Ferraez. Tal announced on October 23, 2016, at a Supernatural panel that she was expecting her first child. She celebrated her pregnancy with a baby shower on January 29, 2017. Guests included fellow Israeli actresses Gal Gadot and Noa Tishby.[6] She has two daughters, born in March 2017 and September 2022.[7][8]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Pim Pam Po In the Magic Castle | Shusha the Witch | original title: Pim Pam Po BeArmon HaKsamim |
| 2003 | To Be a Star | Lilach | original title: Lihiyot Kochav |
| 2007 | Taking 5 | Devon Thompson | |
| 2007 | Half Past Dead 2 | Ellie Burke | Direct-to-video film |
| 2008 | College | Gina Hedlund | |
| 2010 | Undocumented | Liz | |
| 2010 | Kalamity | Ashley | |
| 2013 | Broken City | Katy | |
| 2014 | Rescuing Madison | Madison | |
| 2015 | Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn | Helen Cooper | Voice role |
| 2016 | Opening Night | Chloe | |
| 2022 | Grimcutty | Melinda Jaynes |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Tzimerim | Maya | Israeli TV series[citation needed] |
| 2003–2004, 2006 | HaPijamot | Alona Tal | Main role (seasons 1–3) |
| 2004–2006 | Veronica Mars | Meg Manning | Recurring role (seasons 1–2), 10 episodes |
| 2005 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Tally Jordan | Episode: "Room Service" |
| 2006 | Cold Case | Sally (1988) | Episode: "8 Years" |
| 2006 | 7th Heaven | Simon's Mystery Friend | Episode: "Highway to Cell" |
| 2006 | Commander in Chief | Courtney Winters | Episode: "State of the Unions" |
| 2006 | Split Decision | Bex Christensen | Television film |
| 2006–2007, 2009, 2011 | Supernatural | Jo Harvelle | Recurring role (season 2); guest role (seasons 5, 7) |
| 2007 | Frangela | Sara | Television film |
| 2007 | Cane | Rebecca King Vega | Main role |
| 2008 | The Cleaner | Jackie Kemp | Episode: "Rag Dolls" |
| 2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Fiona Raine | Episode: "Firestarter" |
| 2009 | The Mentalist | Natalie | Episode: "Crimson Casanova" |
| 2009 | Knight Rider | Julie Nelson | Episode: "Knight and the City" |
| 2009 | Party Down | Heather | Episode: "California College Conservative Union Caucus" |
| 2009 | Monk | Molly Evans | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the End: Part 2" |
| 2010 | Independent Lens | Hannah Senesh | Voice role; episode: "Blessed Is the Match" |
| 2010 | Lie to Me | Becky Turley | Episode: "React to Contact" |
| 2010 | Leverage | Kaye Lynn Gold | Episode: "The Studio Job" |
| 2010 | The Defenders | Ashley | Episode: "Nevada v. Carter" |
| 2011 | Pretty Little Liars | Simone | Episode: "Careful What U Wish 4" |
| 2011 | Prime Minister's Children | Libi Agmon | Main role |
| 2011 | The Killing | Aleena Drizocki | Episode: "Beau Soleil" |
| 2011 | Against the Wall | Nicki | Episodes: "Baby, Did a Bad Thing", "Lean on Me or Die" |
| 2011 | Three Inches | Lily Thereoux | Television film |
| 2012 | Powers | Zora | Pilot television film (released on the Internet only)[citation needed] |
| 2013 | Cult | Kelly Collins | Main role[9] |
| 2013 | Burn Notice | Sonya | Recurring role (season 7), 8 episodes |
| 2016 | Hostages | Zohar | Main role (season 2) |
| 2014–2017 | Hand of God | Jocelyn Harris | Main role |
| 2017–2024 | SEAL Team | Stella | Recurring role |
| 2019 | The Spy | Julia Schneider | Episode: "What's New, Buenos Aires?" |
| 2020 | Little Fires Everywhere | Young Linda McCullough | Episode: "The Uncanny" |
| 2020 | Away | Young Miriam | Episode: "A Little Faith" |
| 2021 | Truth Be Told | Ivy Abbott | Recurring role (season 2)[5] |
| 2024 | Law & Order | Deborah | |
| 2024 | Cross | Kayla Craig | 8 episodes |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Halo: Reach | Kat | Voice role |
| 2019 | Gears 5 | Kat | Voice role; guest appearance |
References
edit- ^ "Ze Ze O Ze Ze". HaPijamot. Season 3. Episode 62. 28 July 2004. 10:13 minutes in. Arutz HaYeladim. Transcript.
Trivia: Alona was born October 20
. - ^ a b c d e "אלונה טל: "אני עדיין לא מבינה למה לא קראו לי ל'וונדר וומן'?"". Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ @talalona (10 July 2012). "@michaelharpaz that's awesome!! I just got a scanned copy that my polish mom sent me. ;)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b Petski, Denise (17 November 2020). "'Truth Be Told': Merle Dandridge, Jason O'Mara, Alona Tal, David Lyons, Among 9 Cast For Season 2 Of Apple Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Zen Mama! Alona Tal Celebrates Daughter's Upcoming Birth with Celestial-Themed Baby Shower". People. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "Alona Tal Welcomes Daughter Charlie". People. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "Alona Ferraez on Instagram: "Table for four please . #familyoffour @marcos595 #mycharliegirl #mybaileygirl"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "CW's Cult Casts Alona Tal..." TVLine. 9 February 2012. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
External links
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