Brad Pitt To Star with Israeli Actress in New Movie

Image by Getty Images

By Nathan Burstein February 4, 2011

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.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO