Respect. Israeli singing legend lands Hollywood role

Israeli actor and singer Yehoram Gaon has been cast to play the role of the head of the Mossad in the forthcoming Brad Pitt zombie drama, "World War Z."

Although the film is still in the casting stage and has yet to begin filming, it is generating headlines of particular interest to the Israeli public. Israeli actress Mali Levy's name popped up all over the media last month as being chosen to portray an Israeli soldier in the film, but her participation was canceled at the last minute because she lacked the requisite European passport for filming in Europe.

The American tabloid magazine "InTouch" reported that Levy's casting had actually been vetoed by Brad Pitt's partner, Angelina Jolie, who was fearful of a potential on-set romance between Pitt and the young Israeli model-actress. Israeli actress Daniela Kertas was chosen to replace Levy. The role of Kertas' military commander in the film will be played by Noa Bodner, an Israeli actress living in London. And now Israeli participation in the film has expanded even further.

Yehoram Gaon, who tested for the role of Mossad chief two weeks ago, apparently aced his audition. Based on the book "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks, son of filmmaker Mel, the film is about zombies trying to take over the world. It is scheduled for release in 2014. Director Mark Forster visited Israel last month with a mixed Israeli and American casting crew to audition numerous Israeli actresses for the soldier role. He also met with Gaon. Minutes into the meeting, it was clear that Gaon's execution impressed the production team, but the highly anticipated decision finally came on Monday. Gaon refrained from commenting publicly, but his associates said that he was very excited. "This is a great honor for any actor and Yehoram is very happy," an associate said on Monday. He added, however, that Gaon "still hasn't been given the expected shooting dates for the film and he wants to make sure there is no conflict with filming he is doing now, to which he is already committed."

Gaon, who recently gave an unforgettable performance in the series "Scoundrels," is currently playing the head rabbi of a yeshiva in the series "Urim and Thumim" on the Yes cable channel. He also hosts the children's program "Father's Genius" (a play on his name -- "gaon" is Hebrew for "genius") on Israeli educational television. In addition, he hosts his own radio program every Friday on Reshet Bet.

Gaon is currently in the thick of intensive filming on the new drama-comedy series "Savri Meranan," ("With your permission, my teachers," an expression taken from the Friday night Kiddush prayer) which will be broadcast later this year on Israeli television.