"Once you understand what it is to be a woman in the world, you can not be indifferent, you can not cry for change"

After the break-in at "Headquarters", Noa Astanjlov stars in "Special" as a girl confined to a wheelchair following a hit-and-run accident.

In an interview, she explains why her real passion is for feminist posts on Facebook, why the Nida campaign does not bother her and why she still lives in Ashdod

Avner Shavit

04/07/2022

Monday, 04 July 2022, 00:58

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

From the "Special" series (educational here)

There are many youth series, but "Special" is really a special series, probably in the Israeli landscape.

The series, which is coming up here educationally today, focuses on characters who usually do not get the spotlight here - boys and girls on the autism spectrum, and a girl who was injured in a hit-and-run accident, and as a result suffers from a temporary disability.

The plot lines are intertwined, and reveal to us uncompromisingly, relative to the target audience but also on any scale, the challenges facing the protagonists and their families, and the way in which each is unique in its own way.

The girl who finds herself confined to a wheelchair is played by Noa Astangelov.

The actress, who was born in the late 1990s, has been playing in front of a camera since childhood, but became a household name only last year, thanks to her memorable appearance in "Headquarters" in the character of Sound, the platoon that over time gathers courage to return war to those who try to blackmail it. Recently we also saw her glamorous in "My Nephew Benz", which has become one of the pleasant TV surprises of recent times, and will soon star in "Border Police", the spoken word series of Manny Yaish.

In the meantime, you can get excited about her in "Special."

Unlike the characters on the spectrum, who are played in the series by actors who are also like that in life, Astangelov herself is not disabled.

"I started working on this character in a similar way to the one I worked on before, but then I realized that there is a large part of it that I do not have enough knowledge about," she says in an interview with Walla!

Culture on the occasion of a "special" rise to the screens.

"The production got me hooked on Moran Samuel, an international athlete who one day woke up when she could no longer move, and became a Paralympic champion and an inspiring figure. We had a very exciting conversation, and I tried to figure out who she was, and adopt her militant and optimistic attitude."

More on Walla!

"Everyone who met me asked 'why are you doing an adaptation of such a successful series'?

To the full article

"They introduced me to Moran Samuel, and I adopted her approach."

Noa Astangelov (Photo: Walla !, Reuven Castro)

The protagonist's new situation lands on her like thunder on a clear day, as she walks down the street and someone crushes her with his electric scooter, something that unfortunately can happen to all of us.

Fortunately it did not happen to you in reality, but did it happen to you that something unexpected suddenly changed your life from end to end?

"Yes, my parents' divorce at age seven. I was used to a certain routine of life, and suddenly I had to get used to a different dynamic. There was family and life as I knew it, and then it changed, without me having control over it. In that sense, I can connect to the character. "Divorce was the first and most dominant thing, but of course life is always surprising, and every time there is a blow that reminds me how much we have no control over anything and how much everything is on the hairline."

"Special" was directed by Liv Sivan, who is considered one of the most promising names in the industry.

It is a sad and well-known fact that there are too few directors in the Israeli film and television world, but Lastangelov had the opportunity to work with quite a few directors - with Mr. Gaon Braba in the excellent short film "Cindy", with Lee Gilat in the long feature film "Laps", with Atara Frisch in " The headquarters "and now with Sivan.

"The amount of directors I worked with is an unusual statistic unfortunately, which does not reflect the rule," she says of it.

"All the powerful women I've known in my life have a part in my personality and my feminist personality. I also worked with sensitive men, and they broke a lot of myths about how a woman directs and how a man directs. There is a cliché that a woman will sensitively direct and be a mother, Shelly Bench is one of the people with the highest emotional intelligence I have encountered, and the same is true of Manny Yaish who works with me at the Border Police.

"Yes, the meeting with them surprised me, because there is nothing to do - we are all affected by the patriarchal patterns, so I did not necessarily expect them to do so."

"Every time there comes a blow that reminds me how much we have no control over anything and how much everything is on the hairline."

Noa Astangelov (Photo: Walla !, Reuven Castro)

I had a heated confrontation with the management over an argument over whether it was possible to come to school with jeans with rips.

I stood my ground and was rude, and at one point the principal told me 'there is nothing to do, even if you are right' "

A lot of people, and I do, enjoy following what you write on Facebook.

The content is usually feminist, or as you once humorously wrote - "My hobby is digging about feminism on Facebook".

When and how was your consciousness shaped?

"Once you have a deep understanding of what it is to walk around as a woman in the world, I do not understand how you can be indifferent to it, how you can not cry out for change. I have always been a person who pursues justice, and if I have something to say - then I will usually say it. Incidents about every situation you can imagine.I remember political quarrels in citizenship classes, I would argue with the teacher after the bell and the other students would tell me to shut up already, that it would be possible to take a break.I had a heated confrontation with the administration over an argument over whether to come to school with c "Ripples with tears. I stood on my own and was rude, and at one point the principal told me 'there is nothing to do, even if she's right'. I had a hard time hearing that answer, ', Because I posted shows how unfair the perception of the education system is. "

But what motivates you to write posts on Facebook?

What do you get out of it?

"I hold some kind of innocent belief that I can change. I do not despair of arguing with people. I am addicted to opinions, addicted to discussions. I am able to go into a post and read all of his comments."

"Honestly, I do not understand the storm. I have a bit of a spin with the campaign. Everyone who participated in it, really believes in it. I follow Shai Mika, and she posted a lot on the subject even before the campaign. "Can download a follower. They posted something that is part of their lifestyle, and did not do it for the sake of coercion. No one is forcing anything on us. Anyone who feels it is coercion should ask themselves why it is so stressful for them to be exposed to this lifestyle."

"I would argue with the citizenship teacher after the bell rang."

Noa Astangelov (Photo: Walla !, Reuven Castro)

"When I talk about feminism I am sometimes told 'you will not find someone like that - you are a deterrent'"

Astanjlov is very busy with her thriving career, so anyone who is concerned about time management will be happy to hear that she has reduced her screen time by two hours every day.

"Sometimes I would type responses to a post even before I brushed my teeth, but it drained me of strength and I moderated," she says.

"And yet, the screen robs me of quite a few hours a day. Part of it is discussions, and part of it is because of Instagram and my need for Dompin."

"It's not that I'm turning anyone into a feminist. It's a dialogue. People will never see things the same way. Everyone has their own baggage. I too will never understand a man to the end. I do not set myself the ultimate goal of enlisting someone in the feminist army. I share it In my experience in the world, and through my sharing, something in the man in front of me becomes more sensitive. In the end, we are all human sons and daughters and I believe we are all good and do not want to hurt. It's all a matter of communication and mediation He's a feminist. "

"One of them sure will be 'you will not find someone like that - you are intimidating.'

Falling in love with the person who ran over her.

Noa Astangelov in "Special" (Photo: courtesy here educational)

Back to "Special": The rapist on the electric scooter adds guilt to crime as he escapes the arena.

He then disguises himself as an innocent eyewitness, and arrives at the hospital to visit the girl who ran over.

She believes him to be an innocent woman, and a relationship develops between the two characters.

"I think he falls in love with what she ends up being for him," the actress says.

"He begins as a lying and superficial person, and she brings out truth and honesty in him."

"No, and not because of the trampling, we all make mistakes - but because of the escape and the lie. A person who is able to lie about such a thing will lie to you about other things as well."

"Yeah, she's the most precious thing to me in the world. I have three brothers from two marriages and another one on the way so I became a sandwich girl, but I still feel like the youngest because that's how I shaped personality. If you ask me how many sisters you have, then automatically I answer 'one '".

"That she will open her heart to children who will see her, who will understand that difference does not deter. Studies have shown that many Israelis would not want their children to meet in classes children with special needs. It is still difficult for them to accept difference.

"Israeli society needs more compassion, and it starts with the younger generation."

Noa Astangelov (Photo: Walla !, Reuven Castro)

"I read everything. Everything. I also read vicious talkbacks, but the blow that has made me want to retire from the profession has not yet come."

Although the interview takes place on the occasion of a "special" occasion, it is of course impossible not to refer to it as "The Headquarters", which Astanjlov will also star in its second season.

"Sometimes I don't realize I'm part of a series like this," she says.

"As a child, I dreamed of appearing in a series that the whole country would see, that would be so good, that would overwhelm important issues like menstruation and suicide. 'Commander' is an unusual thing. I am aware that a series like 'Commander' comes once every few years."

"No, it's hard for me to get used to the concept that a stranger knows who I am. People sometimes apologize for seemingly interfering when they turn to me on the street and say I probably have no power over it, but the truth is I'm most excited about it, and they do not dig me. Give it to me! "People who allow themselves to say things that don't matter. This week someone told me 'you're much less high in reality,' and that's another relatively insulting remark to what I sometimes hear."

"Everything. I also read vicious talkbacks, but the blow has not yet come that made me want to retire from the profession. Apparently every actor is desperate for applause and love, not in the simplistic sense but in the deep sense, of being loved. It is a dramatic and abnormal perception, I do not say otherwise. "You get the applause directly and in the movies, and on TV you get them through comments on the Internet, so I read."

"People on the street think they're digging for me, but I want them to talk to me."

Noa Astangelov (Photo: Walla !, Reuven Castro)

You did not move due to the success.

You still live with your family in Ashdod.

"I did not move to Tel Aviv, but I moved with Tel Aviv a lot. In the past, my goal was to move to live in it. I hung my professional success in this city. I thought I would get there and get to know the right people and from there everything would roll, but then two things happened. The corona started. I did not work for a year, so it was not realistic to leave the house. The second thing is that the 'headquarters' left, and I had success with her while I was still living in Ashdod, so suddenly the connection between Tel Aviv and the profession severed. And my feelings of inferiority in front of her calmed down. Now it's a city I love to be in, but living in it is not a matter of life and death for me. It's an amazing city, but only for those who can afford it. "To do it. In the meantime, I'm in Ashdod, and it's always an issue. When you arrange a photo shoot, I get comments about it, but whoever wants me to deal with it, I'm there."

"Full. Do you know how to pronounce it? Wrong, although in my opinion it is not difficult. You have to hear it once and then it is absorbed. Noa is a generic first name, which for years was the most popular name in Israel, so it's good to balance it with such a special name. him".

• culture

• TV

• Israeli television

Tags

• The headquarters