Roy Assaf, age: 43
• Place of residence: Tel Aviv
• Marital status: married to actress Ornella Bess
• Film and theater actor. He won the Ophir Award twice for his roles in the films “Wounded Land” and “The Overseers”. These days he is acting in the movies “Good Guys” and “All I Can”
Where do we catch you?
“At home, after a long time without being there. I spent a few weeks in Paris visiting Ornella (b.s. his wife – Manash) who is filming there, and I went straight back to location tours in the far south for my film.”
How and where do you drink your coffee?
“The first coffee at home. Black coffee that I make from a mixture of several types of coffee without sugar. I drink the second one outside, in a cafe during meetings or rehearsals or at the Nissan Nativ studio, where I teach.”
Who would you like to have a beer with?
“With the Turkish director Nuri Bilga Ceylan (‘Three Monkeys’, ‘Winter Sleep’) who in my eyes is one of the greatest and influenced me a lot. I’m taking references and influences from him for my next film, and I’m excited about every one of his films. Also with Charlie Chaplin and with Joaquin Phoenix with whom I had a scene in the movie ‘Mary Magdalene’ (by the Australian director Gareth Davis about the story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene – Mansh), and I didn’t have time to talk to him. I wanted to ask a lot of questions but he Run away. And there are many more, Robert De Niro, Christoph Waltz.”
what are you working on now
“These days, the movie ‘Good Guys’ by Erez Tadmor is showing in the cinema, which I really like to work with, and he has been accompanying me for many years. I play Rahim, who developed an unconscious racism towards Mizrahim specifically, and it’s very comical. Hidden in the shell of a romantic comedy is a harsh criticism of the ultra-Orthodox world and the racism that still exists in our society. In addition, I play a lawyer in a divorce process in the film ‘Everything I Can’ by Shiri Nebo Friedenthal, with Anya Bukstein, and another film by Erez Tadmor, ‘Nobody’s Children’, which I co-wrote the script for, and was shown at the Haifa Film Festival, about a guy who lives in a shelter and trying to save it from the danger of closure.
“In two months, my film ‘Total Cabaret’ will be filmed, inspired by a circus cabaret show I did (with Neta Mordovich and Tali Regev). I am directing for the first time with the help of the director Shmulik Maoz (‘Foxtrot’, ‘Lebanon’) because alone it is difficult and a bit pretentious. The connection was made when I sent him the script and he connected very much and has been accompanying me ever since. I am so in control of the material and the story that I feel it is possible with the help of good people.”
what is your scratch
“I like to buy silly things in all kinds of weird markets and collect crap—toys, old cameras, old works. I have rocking horses and old cinema projectors, paintings, sculptures and lamps at home. In every city I come to, I immediately go to the flea market, but it’s starting to become impossible, and I can already see the day when I give it to my friends and change my attitude. In some things I will use my film.”
What is the best advice you received?
“There are two: Nissan Nativ told us a parable about a guy who has a birthmark on his leg that he constantly tries to hide, and sits in a strange way that makes us realize he has a problem. The parable is that when a person tries to hide something, he reveals that he has a problem, and we need to recognize our weaknesses, complete, love and accept them, and I always try to remember that. The second was when after school I felt very lost, and Moshe Noor who directed us in Nissan Netiv saw my plight, and told me to pack a bag and go to do Vipassana in Hezva in the south. He told me ‘don’t ask questions’, and I went along with it. I did Vipassana for 12 days, and it changed my life. I would teach it at the Ministry of Education before any subject.”
What superpower would you like to have?
“You could learn languages much easier than I really have. I have been trying French for many years and am slowly making progress. And I would like to learn to stay humble all the time. I do not”.
Under what circumstances do you lie?
“About once a day I say something true from the heart. Everything else is exaggeration and drama.”
Who do you think is the sexiest person?
“My wife Ornella. When she wants.”
what do you miss
“To the cinema, because he has disappeared a bit. I miss sitting in the cinema and the conversation it used to stimulate, and now a little less. I miss the festivals, which didn’t come back completely after the corona virus, and I miss the trips around the world, meeting audiences from different cultures.”
Where would you most like to live?
“Alternately in Israel and in Paris. Now I’m in Israel more but it would be nice if I divided the time more. working on it”.
What do you like to spend your money on?
“I don’t like to spend so much, but if I spend then on nonsense. For each role I buy things that help me connect with it. I also like to patronize artists and buy debut works, I have a small art collection that makes me very happy. And of course about food and restaurants, but it’s mainly in Paris.”
What would you like to change about yourself?
“Learn to stay more balanced, not to reach extreme situations emotionally and mentally. To temper the pride germ and calm it down. That’s what my next film is about so I’ll deal with it in some way. Pride is one of the sins that scares me the most.”
What do you feel guilty about?
“There are moments at work when I forget that people come first, and I can hurt someone unintentionally. I feel like shit about it.”
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
“My relationship”.
what scares you
“Losing my consciousness. Not in terms of schizophrenia, but to become a pathetic person, lacking self-awareness of the environment and people, irrelevant.”
What makes you happy?
“Traveling with Ornella abroad, seeing a good movie and also an amazing dessert in Paris. Happiness is usually related to the creation for me. Now I’m in a period where I enjoy the work because we found an amazing location in the south that connects well with the story.”
What do you miss most in life?
“To start a family and children. It’s the next thing I know I want to give it all my energy and intention. The next episode. I’m tired of messing with myself.”
What do you consider your most valuable asset?
“intuition”.
What quality do you value most in your friends?
“Integrity I really appreciate that people go with their truth to the end.”
Who are the artists that most influenced your work?
“Chekhov, Hanoch Levin, Meir Ariel, the American director Sidney Lumet and the Turkish director Nuri Bilga Ceylan”.
If you weren’t an actor what would you be doing?
“Maybe a tour guide abroad. I really like to walk in foreign streets and talk.”