Inbar Lavi ( he, ענבר לביא, born October 27, 1986
) is an actress. She is known for portraying Raviva on the 2012
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
series ''
Underemployed'', Vee on the 2014
Fox television series ''
Gang Related
''Gang Related'', alternatively known as Criminal Intent, is a 1997 American action crime thriller film written and directed by Jim Kouf starring James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Dennis Quaid, Lela Rochon, David Paymer and James Earl Jones. The film ...
'', and Sheba on the
Fox series ''
Prison Break''. Lavi starred in the 2017–2018
Bravo television series ''
Imposters'', and played
Eve in the final three seasons of the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
series ''
Lucifer''.
Early life
Lavi was born and raised in
Ramat Gan,
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 ...
to a Jewish family from
Holon.
Lavi's mother has Moroccan origins while her father is of Polish descent.
As a child, she suffered from
asthma and had to use a
nebulizer for 45 minutes at a time. During that time, she watched movies, and "fell in love with cinema". One of her early inspirations was the performance of Israeli-American actress
Natalie Portman in ''
Léon: The Professional''.
Another of her role models was Israeli actress
Ayelet Zurer.
Lavi studied ballet and modern dance at the Kiryat Sharet high school in
Holon, Israel. She then studied acting at the Sophie Moskowitz School of Acting in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, Israel.
Career
In 2004, at the age of 17, Lavi 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 performed in various
off-Broadway productions. After eight months, she moved to
Los Angeles,
after being accepted with a full scholarship to the
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Among her earliest English-speaking roles was
Cordelia in a 2006 production of ''
King Lear'', starring and directed by Tom Badal.
Starting in 2009, Lavi began making guest appearances on television shows including ''
Entourage'', ''
The Closer'', ''
Ghost Whisperer'', ''
Criminal Minds'', ''
CSI: Miami
''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Detec ...
'' and ''
In Plain Sight
''In Plain Sight'' is an American drama television series that premiered on the USA Network on June 1, 2008. The series revolves around Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack), a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, office ...
''.
She has also appeared in films including ''
Tales of an Ancient Empire'' (2010), ''
Street Kings 2: Motor City'' (2011) and ''
House of Dust
''House of Dust'' is a 2014 supernatural thriller film directed by A.D. Calvo. The movie had its world premiere on May 20, 2014 and focuses on a group of college students that become possessed by the ghosts of former mental patients. Filming too ...
'' (2013).
Lavi starred in the 2012
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
television series ''
Underemployed'' as Raviva, a pregnant, aspiring singer. She portrayed Veronica "Vee" Dotsen in the 2014
Fox television series ''
Gang Related
''Gang Related'', alternatively known as Criminal Intent, is a 1997 American action crime thriller film written and directed by Jim Kouf starring James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Dennis Quaid, Lela Rochon, David Paymer and James Earl Jones. The film ...
''. She appeared in the seventh season of ''
Sons of Anarchy'' as street prostitute Winsome.
In 2015 Lavi was cast in the lead role in the
Bravo television series ''
Imposters'' (originally titled ''My So Called Wife''), playing "a Machiavellian con-artist and master of disguise"; the series premiered in February 2017. She was cast in the recurring role of Ravit Bivas, a highly trained Israeli soldier, on the second season of the
TNT naval drama ''
The Last Ship'' in summer 2015. In 2016 Lavi joined the ''
Prison Break'' revival in the role of Sheba, a Yemeni activist.
She joined the cast of ''
Lucifer'' for the series' fourth season, playing
Eve, the first woman made and mother to
Cain and Abel.
Personal life
She married Israeli boyfriend Dan Bar Shira in
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 ...
in August 2021. They reside together in
Los Angeles.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavi, Inbar
1986 births
Israeli expatriate actresses in the United States
Israeli film actresses
Israeli stage actresses
Israeli television actresses
Living people
People from Ramat Gan
Jewish Israeli actresses
Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent
Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent