Abraham Shalom Levi, known to Israeli audiences from series including "Shtisel," "The Captivators," "Shakshuka" and "Valeria Wed," has in recent years also established himself as a writer and creator. He co-created the series "Aleph" with Tamar Marom, and he is now awaiting the release of "Farewell to Dough," a film in which he stars and also wrote the screenplay. In a podcast interview with Avi Ludmir on "Cinema Shout," Levi retraced the long, difficult path that led to his breakthrough.
Levi said his love for acting began in Jerusalem in first or second grade, when he realized he wanted to be an actor but found few outlets for children. Instead of waiting for opportunities, he built his own stage, persuading his teacher to let him put on a short play every Friday. He wrote the scripts, recruited classmates, directed and acted. He later studied theater, went to New York to learn acting, and founded an Israeli theater group there called "Chutzpah," where he wrote, directed and performed original English-language productions. Even after years of work, however, the doors of Israel’s mainstream theater remained closed.
For years, Levi kept trying to break through in fringe and repertory theater. He wrote plays, directed, taught acting, and worked with teenagers and students, but eventually understood that he had spent too long trying to enter a place that did not really want him. He said he needed to leave and move into a field that felt less familiar and more frightening. That shift came during a financially difficult period, when he began auditioning differently and quickly landed roles in "Shtisel" and other series, establishing himself as a screen actor.
His writing career began with a chance meeting at a cafe with journalist and author Odelia Karmon, whose book "The Secret Wife" dealt with the Moshe Katsav affair. After reading it, Levi tried adapting it first as a play, then as a film, before realizing it fit television best. He had never written a series before, but producer Einat Zilber was enthusiastic, and so was Tamar Marom, then head of drama at Reshet, who later became his creative partner. Levi said five years passed from the start of the project until "Aleph" finally aired.
During the making of "Aleph," he learned that television writing is far more collaborative than theater, with producers, script editors, legal advisers, drama executives and content teams all weighing in. One of his biggest lessons, he said, was that notes are not a personal attack, but something that helps a project grow. Although "Aleph" became a major success, he said he expected everything to become easier afterward, only to discover that new projects still get developed and then dropped. He summed up the process as "another floor, and another floor, and another floor."
Levi is also working on "Farewell to Dough," a film by Shimon Dotan based on the story of Michael Lev Tov. He connected immediately with the lead character, Itzik, a Jerusalem bachelor who stops eating dough after a medical warning and sees his life change. The film took years to make, and Levi played the lead role while gaining weight, working on new body language and even wearing weights on his legs during filming to feel the character’s physical heaviness. He said he always tries to make each role look completely different from anything audiences have seen him do before. He is now developing a new series, "The Caretaker" (working title), with Tamar Marom, Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff. After two decades of setbacks and successes, Levi closed by repeating his guiding principle, "No one should ever give up."
