Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Brad Pitt To Star with Israeli Actress in New Movie

An upcoming Brad Pitt movie will shine the Hollywood spotlight on at least one lucky Israeli actress.

Marc Forster, the film’s director, has been in Israel this week to cast one of the story’s supporting roles – a female Israeli soldier who recounts her experiences during a major recent war.

The twist, as far as the Middle East is concerned, is that the combatants in “World War Z” aren’t Israelis and Arabs, or Sunnis and Shiites, but humans and zombies. The story’s Israeli character is just one of several survivors interviewed by a United Nations representative.

In addition to Pitt and Forster – the director of the most recent James Bond movie – the film will feature the work of Milo Ventimiglia, star of the now-kaput TV series “Heroes.”

According to Israel’s Ynet news Web site, front-runners for the role of the Israeli soldier include Ania Bukstein, a staple presence in Israeli film and TV, and Gal Gadot, a former Miss Israel with Hollywood screen credits that include “Entourage” and “Knight and Day.” (In a scene also starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey, Gadot chatted briefly in Hebrew with Mark Wahlberg last year in “Date Night.”)

Based on a book by Max Brooks – the son of Mel – “World War Z” portrays Israel as responding effectively to the zombie crisis, sealing its borders and staying relatively unscathed. The book paints an apocalyptic picture of the war in most of the world, with the conflict toppling other governments and even setting off a regional nuclear war.

If only Israel was as prepared for disasters in real life.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.