Rona-Lee Shimon (; born 9 January 1983), credited onscreen as Rona-Lee Shim'on, is an Israeli actress, dancer and model. She is known primarily for her leading role in ''

Fauda ''Fauda'' (, from ''fawḍā'', meaning "chaos" or "mess") is an Israeli television series developed by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff drawing on their experiences in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It tells the story of Doron, a commander in ...

''. Shim'on was a judge on Israel's (''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'').

Early life

Rona-Lee Shim'on was born in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

, Israel, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. When she was 3 years old, she started taking ballet lessons. At age 12, she joined the Israeli dance troupe Bat Dor (). After graduating high school, she attended the Royal Ballet Academy in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

on a full scholarship. She then returned to Israel to dance professionally. Her sister, Sivan Noam Shim'on, is also an actress, who acted in 2015 Israeli drama film '' Blush''. Her brother, Almog Shim'on, taught her how to shoot a gun for ''

''.

Career

In 2005, Shim'on was a contestant on the Israeli version of ''So You Think You Can Dance'', called ''

Born to Dance ''Born to Dance'' is a 1936 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Eleanor Powell, James Stewart and Virginia Bruce. It was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The score was composed by Cole Porter. Plot Wh ...

'' (). In 2006, she made her acting debut, appearing in one episode of ''Our Song'' (), a musical Israeli

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

. Shim'on went to theatre school for three years and performed in plays like ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

'' and ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'', with her latest role as Anita in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

''. She is known primarily for her leading role in ''

''. Her character, Nurit, is the only woman in the Israeli counter-terrorism unit formed almost exclusively of men. To perform that role, Shim'on did all the stunts herself as did the rest of the cast, and her training included how to fire a weapon,

Krav Maga Krav Maga ( ; , ; ) is an Israeli Hand-to-hand combat, self-defence system. Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it uses techniques derived from aikido, boxing, judo, karate and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situat ...

, and kickboxing. In 2020, she appeared as Mika in ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shimon, Rona-Lee Living people 1983 births People from Ramat Gan Israeli female models Israeli film actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli ballerinas 21st-century Israeli actresses