Alona Tal ( he, אלונה טל, ; born ) is an Israeli actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

'' as cheerleader

Meg Manning ''Veronica Mars'' is an American television series created by Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during UPN's last two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Televisi ...

, in ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'' as budding monster hunter

Jo Harvelle Joanna Beth Harvelle is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series ''Supernatural'' portrayed by Alona Tal. Aspiring to be a hunter of supernatural creatures like her parents, she was introduced in the s ...

, and in '' SEAL Team'' as grad student Stella Baxter.

Early life

Tal was born and raised in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Her father Ami Tal is a computer professional of

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

( Turkish-Jewish) descent, whose original surname was "Mizrahi". Her mother Ayala (née Sabat) is a lawyer and is of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

(

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

) descent. Both her parents were born in Israel. Her parents divorced when she was 9. She has two sisters as well as two half-sisters from her father's later relationship. She attended the Thelma Yellin High School in

Givatayim Givatayim ( he, גִּבְעָתַיִים, lit. "two hills") is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. In it had a population o ...

, Israel, majoring in theatre. She is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and has described herself as a "spiritual person". She served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

's military theatre.

Career

Tal started her career after her military service, with a children's musical video tape in which she played an evil witch. Following that, she appeared in a commercial for a laundry detergent, and then appeared in the lead role in the

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

film ''Lihiyot Kochav'' (''To Be A Star''). During the filming of the movie Tal was offered two roles in two different Israeli television shows, and she took both. The first was a soap opera named ''Tzimerim,'' about the life of a family that runs a hotel; the second one was '' HaPijamot'' (''The Pyjamas''), a sitcom about a struggling band determined to make it in the real world. She took part in the first three seasons and later took part as a guest star which gave her the chance to show her musical talent. Although she was the main character only in the first three seasons, she appeared in the fourth season for several episodes. Tal also appeared in the music video for "Final Warning", by

Skylar Grey Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986), known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Mazomanie, Wisconsin. In 2004, at the age of 17, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music ...

. Tal moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where she met singer

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

and recorded a song with him (the song "

Party to Damascus "Party to Damascus" is a reggae fusion and hip hop song by Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean featuring guest vocals from Missy Elliott. It was written by Jean, Elliott, and Jerry Duplessis for his fourth studio album, '' The Preacher's Son'' (2003). Re ...

" has Tal singing the chorus in Hebrew). She landed a role on ''

,'' that of

, one of Veronica Mars's few friends. She also played the recurring role

on the second, fifth, and seventh seasons of ''

.'' Tal also guest-starred on the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

of ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'' as

Adrian Monk Adrian Monk, portrayed by Tony Shalhoub, is the title character and protagonist of the USA Network television series ''Monk''. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department. Monk has obsessive–compulsive ...

's stepdaughter, Molly Evans. In 2010, she performed the voice of Catherine-B320 (also known as Kat) in the video game '' Halo: Reach.'' In 2013, she starred in the mystery series ''

Cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

''. She played the role of "Sonya" in the seventh and final season of ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...

''. In November 2020, Tal was cast as Ivy in the second season of the drama series '' Truth be Told.''

Personal life

On March 23, 2005, Tal married American actor Marcos A. Ferraez. Tal announced on October 23, 2016, at a ''

'' panel that she was expecting her first child. She celebrated her pregnancy with a

baby shower A baby shower is a party of gift-giving, drinking beers or a ceremony that has different names in different cultures. It celebrates the delivery or expected birth of a child or the transformation of a woman into a mother. Etymology The term ''s ...

on January 29, 2017. Guests included fellow Israeli actresses

Gal Gadot Gal Gadot-Varsano ( he, גל גדות ; born 30 April 1985) is an Israeli actress and model. At age 18, she was crowned Miss Israel 2004. She then served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years as a combat fitness instructor, whereafter sh ...

and

Noa Tishby Noa Tohar Tishby ( he, נועה טוהר תשבי; born May 1977) is an Israeli actress, writer, producer, and activist. As an actress, she appeared in a variety of American television shows and movies, including ''The Affair (TV series), The A ...

. She has two daughters, born in March 2017 and September 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tal, Alona 1983 births American television actresses Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent 21st-century Israeli women singers Israeli film actresses Israeli television actresses Jewish Israeli actresses Jewish American actresses Jewish American musicians Living people People from Herzliya Israeli female military personnel 21st-century American actresses American film actresses Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews