Shari Givati is re-accustoming to life in Israel. After more than a decade of living on the Los Angeles-Tel Aviv line, the Corona epidemic was the last step in her transition to permanent residence in Israel, and the destruction of the Hollywood dream. Givati played several desirable Hollywood roles in series such as “NCIS” of the CBS network, and “My Own Worst Enemy” of the NBC network, and in the movie “Body of Deceit” alongside Kristana Luken, but the big break never came.
“When I left, all the agents told me, ‘You are making a mistake, you need a few more years, it will happen in a minute,'” Givati says. “I left knowing that I was leaving before the ‘big bang’ in my career. I have friends who are still there, and when I left it took five years for them to ‘blow up.’ When my son, Rif, was born, we realized that this was it. I took it into account, it’s a difficult thing to take into account. There are other things that make me happy besides acting in Hollywood – acting in general, making music, writing, it’s something I took into account and I dealt with it that I packed the dream and that’s enough Behind”.
“For every project I received, there were 200 that I didn’t receive, of which 50 were ones that were almost mine,” adds Givati. “These disappointments are very hard. I returned to Israel for almost a year from a huge project that fell through at the last minute. I took it so hard, I did a telenovela just to recover from the blow and come back with renewed strength. Until you see it on the screen, it doesn’t happen. You can shoot a pilot and it is Accepted can take you out of it, so many times I’ve felt that happen. People say, ‘That’s it, it’s happening.’ It was cancelled. That’s how it is in Hollywood, HBO has now shelved ‘Batgirl’, a huge $90 million project, it’s a big waste of the soul.”
As part of the move to work in Israel, and the variety of roles she did in Israel (“Shadow Rule”, “Irreversible” and “Pilots’ Wives”), Givati’s musical career also moved to Hebrew, and now she is releasing her third single in her mother’s language, “Houbi”. Givati released it, it was mostly in English, and the new song is for her a walk in unfamiliar fields. “When I was in Corona, I didn’t have auditions for the USA, and my green card was also canceled, I felt more the place I was in, it scared me. Because the whole thing about music in Los Angeles is something I never fought for, it was something that was offered to me, and it was in English.”
“In Corona, I said, ‘You live here, people hear Hebrew here, and the time has come.’ In recent years, I’ve been making covers with a cover of the song ‘Aisha’, and it’s really fun. That’s what the studio got for me. You come to the studio with some inspiration, and I wrote the song inspired by weddings, and my wedding with my husband and the children.”
How is the experience of seeing Gal Gadot succeed?
“Only Gal Gadot became Gal Gadot. A whole country won the lottery.”
Many in Israel are disappointed with Gal Gadot not using her position to protect Israel during operations and wars. What do you think about it?
“I think she can’t. She can’t in terms of a contract. When you become a superhero you sign that you’re not allowed to talk about politics. After she finishes Wonder Woman maybe she can.”
How did you end up marrying LGBT couples?
“Couples have approached me, that’s what’s fun, to bring the groom into the canopy. Because not everyone comes with an open heart, some guests come with some kind of reservation, it’s fun to share with them and enhance their experience and make them understand that love is love.”
how did you meet
“I came back to Israel and a friend introduced him to me, and we became friends. I came to Israel to get married, start a family, I really considered living there, it’s not a place for couples, it’s a bit problematic. I looked at all the actresses around me, some Israeli, some not. I said to myself, ‘No It’s all work’. I had a fantasy of being close to my parents. They sent me a picture of him and I said come on, fine, and then he called me after about a week and I didn’t answer. I saw this friend and I told him, ‘If he calls after a week, then it’s better not to call at all’ And he said to me, ‘His dog is dead, I swear,’ I told him, ‘Go, go,’ and then he sent me a picture on Facebook with his dog that he was writing a farewell letter to, he literally sat on it. So I said it’s fine, let him call me again.”
“tried to kiss me”
As part of her life and work in Hollywood, Givati was unable to avoid the #MeToo experience she experienced. “I experienced. I experienced fortunately at the beginning of my journey,” Givati says. “This is a very big director, if I say the name, then it will become around him. After I interviewed Adam Sandler about his film Guy Pines, I met a director I was at his screening, the way we talked he led me to some place during the conversation, pushed me against the wall and kissed me I immediately pushed him as if ‘where did you get that from?'”
“Since then, I’ve never had a meeting that wasn’t in the office with people,” Givati adds. “I so admit that it happened, to me. It straightened me out, there is work, there is no work. It doesn’t happen on TV because there are many people. I thought about it, I’m very strong, it’s hard to overwhelm me. I tic tac can give a kick, but It could have been another girl, someone else could have frozen in place. It didn’t matter to me, to anyone else, from all the stories I’ve heard about girls who froze. It could have been someone in the same situation who would have frozen in place and it could have haunted her. Suddenly it’s very stressful for me , when I thought about it. Put the girls in judo.”
The career in Hollywood brought success to Givati’s life that she will never forget. “I played an Israeli Mossad agent in the NCIS special, who is more sophisticated than the Americans and knocks them down,” Givati proudly shares. “Finally they hired a Mossad agent who is not dark-skinned, I really enjoyed it and put in some lines I wrote for the character. When I saw the lines I wrote on the screen in the US I said ‘O.K. what’s up.’
What from your work abroad did you get the most feedback in Israel?
“In Israel they are enthusiastic about yellow, enthusiasm for Enrique Iglesias”.
What was it really like to work with Enrique?
“He’s charming, the most gentle person there is. In my case, he was the most professional there is. He’s also the one who wanted me, he saw me in person, and decided to put me in the music video. It was his production, his personal project, and he was the most professional in the world.”
In the last year, Ray was photographed for the movie “Home” alongside Roy Nik, about which she says: “It’s an ultra-orthodox story, which was in the news. About the first electronic store in Mea Shearim.”
You also acted in an ultra-orthodox film – tell me about the experience.
“They approached me, and I said, ‘Of course not.’ Then I started seeing other actresses with stories of their own being tested for the film. Then they sent me the script and I said, ‘This is a good director.’ From a normal movie, it’s period, American period clothes, it was really interesting and cool. And it’s a hit with the world’s ultra-Orthodox audience. My inbox is full of anxieties. Those who send me messages are also religious.”
Not an obvious casting of any kind, yet your Instagram is full of bikini pics.
“I was also very surprised that I was cast.”