Israel
Jewish star of Inglourious Basterds cast in new series of Fauda
Mélanie Laurent gained fame for her portrayal of Shoshanna in 2009 Tarantino blockbuster
April 15, 2025 15:08
Mélanie Laurent gained fame for her portrayal of Shoshanna in 2009 Tarantino blockbuster
April 15, 2025 15:08French actress and filmmaker Mélanie Laurent will join the cast of the upcoming fifth season of Fauda, the acclaimed Israeli television series portraying an undercover unit fighting Palestinian terrorism, Ynet reported on Monday.
Laurent became renowned worldwide for her role as Shoshanna Dreyfus, a young Jewish Parisian seeking revenge on the Nazis, in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 blockbuster Inglourious Basterds – a role the director himself described as the “Jewish Joan of Arc”.
While details on her new role remain under wraps, the actress, who is Jewish, is expected to feature in seven of the nine episodes, set to come out next year.
Laurent has previously collaborated with Fauda creator and lead star Lior Raz on Netflix’s action films 6 Underground and Operation Finale, the latter of which documented the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. She was spotted visiting Israel in November 2024, which may have been connected to her upcoming role.
The fifth season of the hit show is projected to air in 2026 on Israel’s Yes satellite network, followed by an international release on Netflix.
Fauda, meaning “chaos” in Arabic, became a global success almost immediately after its first season aired in Israel. The show, which has bilingual scripts in Hebrew and Arabic, has been praised for its gritty realism and unsparing portrayal of undercover commandos who pose as Arabs to pursue terrorists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The New York Times listed it as one of the best shows of 2017 and it swept the Israeli Academy Awards in its debut year. There was even an unofficial Asian spin-off developed focussing on tensions between India and Pakistan.
Co-created by Raz and Avi Issacharoff, and produced by Yes, the programme is considered the strongest TV brand exported by Israel, airing in 190 countries through Netflix.
The series largely draws from the real-life experiences of its creators, who served in combat roles in the IDF.
Raz and Issacharoff have been also chosen by Leviathan Productions to script October 7th an upcoming feature film on the heroic true story of Noam Tibon, entertainment news site Deadline reported last year.
Tibon rescued his son Amir, a Haaretz journalist; Amir’s wife, Miri; and their baby daughters, Carmel and Galia from Hamas terrorists who had invaded their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the border invasion and ensuing massacre on October 7, 2023.