Alon Aboutboul

Alon Aboutboul was an Israeli character actor who became a recognizable face both at home and abroad. Born on May 28, 1965 in Kiryat Ata, Israel, Aboutboul was raised Jewish, though his family hailed from Egypt and Algeria. In 1983, Aboutboul graduated from the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Givatayim, and quickly landed his first film role in "Hapnimiyah" (1983). Aboutboul's first big role came with a leading role in the popular Israeli film "Shtei Etzbaot Mi'Tzidon (Two Fingers From Sidon)" (1986), for which he won the Best Actor prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival. The next year Aboutboul appeared in his first big American production, "Rambo III" (1987). Aboutboul once again won Best Actor at the Jerusalem Film Festival for his performance in "Ehad Mishelanu (One of Us)" (1989). The '90s saw Aboutboul relegated to mostly appearing in low-budget action films. In the 2000s, however, his luck began to change, first with a small role in Steven Spielberg's terrorist thriller "Munich" (2005), then in Ridley Scott's globetrotting espionage film "Body of Lies" (2008), alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. In 2010 Aboutboul started getting regular work on American TV, appearing in "NCIS" (CBS, 2003-), "Fringe" (FOX, 2008-2013), "The Mentalist" (CBS, 2008-2013), and "Castle" (ABC, 2009-2016) in just that year alone. In 2012, Aboutboul played Dr. Leonid Pavel for Christopher Nolan's final Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012), while also appearing on "Burn Notice" (USA Network, 2007-2013) and "Homeland" (Showtime, 2011-). Aboutboul was next seen by American audiences as a terrorist mastermind in the Gerard Butler action flick "London Has Fallen" (2016).