Assaf Cohen (born October 31, 1972) is an American actor. Born in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

and raised in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, California, Cohen is of Yemenite, Russian, and Israeli descent. He graduated from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, Berkeley with a BA degree in Integrative Biology. Initially planning to attend medical school, Cohen decided to pursue a career in acting instead. Cohen's early career included work at various regional theaters in California, such as The Magic, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and PCPA Theaterfest. He then moved to the East Coast to earn an MFA in acting from the Professional Actors Training Program at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. Later, Cohen relocated to Los Angeles, where he performed at South Coast Repertory and began a career in film and television.

Early life

Cohen was born in

and raised in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, where his family settled after living for a number of years in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He is of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

ite,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n and

i descent. Cohen graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

with a BA degree in Integrative Biology. Forgoing earlier plans of attending medical school, he instead pursued professional acting.

Career

Cohen worked for a few years at regional theaters such as The Magic, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and PCPA Theaterfest. He then next moved east and earned an MFA degree in acting from the Professional Actors Training Program at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts ("Mason Gross" or "MGSA") is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mason Gross offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theater. Ma ...

, where he studied under New York Acting teachers William Esper, Maggie Flanigan and Deborah Hedwall. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he performed at theaters including South Coast Repertory and began his career in film and television.

Filmography

Film

Television

External links

*
Official Website

Hollywood Reporter: Cohen books USA pilot

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Assaf American male television actors American male film actors 1972 births Living people American people of Yemeni descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Israeli descent American people of Yemeni-Jewish descent People from Mountain View, California Male actors from Palo Alto, California UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Rutgers University alumni