French actress and filmmaker Mélanie Laurent will join the cast of the upcoming fifth season of Fauda, the acclaimed Israeli television series portraying an undercover unit fighting Palestinian terrorism, Ynet reported on Monday.
Laurent became renowned worldwide for her role as Shosanna Dreyfus, a young Jewish Parisian seeking revenge on the Nazis, in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds blockbuster film.
While details on her new role remain under wraps, the actress is expected to feature in seven of the nine episodes of Season 5.
Laurent has previously collaborated with Fauda creator and star Lior Raz on Netflix’s action films 6 Underground and Operation Finale. She was spotted visiting Israel in November 2024, which may have been connected to her upcoming role.
The fifth season is projected to air in 2026 on Israel’s Yes satellite television company, to be followed with an international release on Netflix.
Fauda, which means “chaos” in Arabic, became a global hit almost immediately after its first season aired in Israel. The show, which has bilingual scripts in Hebrew and Arabic, has been praised for its gritty realism and unsparing portrayal of undercover commandos who pose as Arabs to pursue terrorists in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
The New York Times listed it as one of the best shows of 2017.
Co-created by Raz and Avi Issacharoff, and produced by Yes, Fauda is considered the strongest TV brand exported by Israel. It has aired in 190 countries through Netflix.
The series largely draws from the real-life experiences of its creators, who served in combat roles in the Israel Defense Forces.
Raz and Issacharoff have been also chosen by Leviathan Productions to script “October 7th,” a feature film on the heroic true story of Noam Tibon, entertainment news site Deadline reported in June 2024.
Tibon rescued his son Amir, a Haaretz journalist; Amir’s wife, Miri; and their daughters, Carmel, 1, and Galia, 3, from Hamas terrorists who had invaded their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the border invasion and ensuing massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.