Ayelet Zurer

Ayelet Zurer (איילת זורר; born 28 June 1969) is an Israeli actress. She was nominated for awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Israeli Academy Awards and the Israeli Television Academy Awards. She won Best Actress awards for her roles in the Israeli film Nina's Tragedies and Betipul.

Background
Ayelet Zurer was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a Jewish family. Her mother was born in Czechoslovakia and immigrated to Israel at 16 years old. Her mother was saved during World War II by hiding in a convent in Slovakia. During her military service in the Israel Defense Forces, Zurer was a member of the Northern Command's entertainment troupe. In 2003, she married her Israeli husband Gilad Londovski. She has a son.

After finishing her service, Zurer studied acting for three years in Yoram Levinstein Academy. She moved to the United States and studied with George Morison at the Actors Workshop in New York City. She was invited to play the lead in Florentine, one of Israel's iconic television shows. She returned to Israel, developed a career on stage, in films, and in television and became one of Israel's most acclaimed actresses. In 2004 when Ayelet was cast in Steven Spielberg's Munich, she moved with her family to California where she resides today.

Television career
Zurer moved back to Israel in 1991. In 1992, she starred in the television series Inyan Shel Zman, and in 1993, she played Debbie in the Israeli comedy film Nikmato Shel Itzik Finkelstein (Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein). During this time she also participated in the cable television show Yetziat Hirum. In 1997, Zurer played the role of Shira Steinberg in the television show Florentin on the Israeli Channel 2. In 2000, Zurer participated in the Israeli television series Zinzana, and in 2002, she participated in the Israeli television series Shalva and Ha'Block.

In 2005, Zurer starred in the Israeli television series Betipul, a drama about a psychologist and his patients' therapy process. She plays Na'ama Lerner, a patient who starts a romance with the doctor. The series won her a Best Actress award from the Israeli Television Academy and was remade as the HBO series In Treatment. The following year Zurer participated in an Israeli sketch comedy television show called Gomrot Holchot that deals with the world of young women; relationships, marriage, sex, and career. The show is based on the British sketch comedy show Smack the Pony.

In 2015, Zurer starred in Daredevil as Vanessa Marianna, an art gallery owner. The series is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Zurer reprised her role in the third season (2018) of Daredevil.

Film career
In 1998 she played the lead in the film Ahava Asura (a.k.a. The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field). In 2001, she starred in the movies Laila Lelo Lola and Kikar Ha'Halomot. In 2003, Zurer starred in Nina's Tragedies, portraying the title character, Nina, a young woman who has to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. She won an Israeli Academy Award for Best Actress for this role.

Zurer appeared in Munich (2005), where she played Avner Kaufman's wife. She played a terrorist in the American thriller Vantage Point. In 2007, Zurer starred in Fugitive Pieces, in which a troubled young Holocaust survivor falls in love with her character. She played a nurse who falls in love with the title character in Adam Resurrected (2008).

In April 2008, Zurer was cast as the female lead, Vittoria Vetra, in The Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons,

Zurer plays the lead role in the 2011 film Hide Away (a.k.a. "A Year in Mooring").

Zurer played Superman's mother, Lara Lor-Van, in the reboot of the Superman franchise, Man of Steel (2013).

Theatre, modeling, and illustration
Zurer appeared in Israeli comedies such as Ha'Yoreshet, Woman Guide to Cause, King's New Cloths, Let's Not Talk About It, Everybody Loves Opall, and Monologim Me'Ha'Vaginah.

In the United States, she has appeared in plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and ''Richard III.

Zurer has modeled for fashion companies such as Golbary, Mashbir, and Golf.

Zurer illustrated author Gabi Nitzan's fantasy book Badulina, and served as editor and illustrator on works by Paulo Cahalu.