Ayelet Zurer as Maite Voss in Moonhaven. Photo by Christine Ramage and courtesy/copyright of AMC/AMC+
Growing up, Israeli-born actress Ayelet Zurer considered a few other career options before ultimately embarking on her true passion. “At one point, I wanted to learn oceanography,” she notes. “I also thought about going to Italy to make shoes, which was rather silly,” says the actress with a laugh. “I’ve always loved art, though. That’s a part of my life and, in fact, I have a second career as an illustrator.
“If I hadn’t had the opportunity to pursue acting, then I probably would have done something in the fields of science and biology. As a teenager, I was part of a teen performance group, but after two or three years, I decided that wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to continue to study, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. So like many young people, I got a job as a waitress, and one day I was offered a TV commercial. After that, I was offered a role in a TV show, and that’s when I finally decided that this [acting] might be for me. I studied in Israel as well as New York, and had a beautiful career in Israel, but then I started getting roles in Munich. That helped open the gate for jobs across the world. I’m a perfectionist and I work hard, but I have to say that I’ve been very lucky, too.”
Currently, Zurer can be seen playing Maite Voss in AMC/AMC+’s Sci-Fi drama Moonhaven. The series is set 100 years in Earth’s future and a time when the planet has become uninhabitable due to a variety of reasons. Humankind’s final hope for survival is Moonhaven, a lush, 500-square-mile colony built on the Moon and inhabited by humans calling themselves “Mooners” who are looking for ways to revitalize Earth. Over the past 30 years, they have made great strides with this herculean task thanks to IO, an artificial intelligence that has discovered solutions to just about everything from famine to human conflict. When the series opens, the Mooners are conflicted about the impending rollout of “The Bridge,” a plan involving the resettlement of Earth. Unfortunately, this coincides with the first murder on Moonhaven, which “detectives” Paul Sarno (Dominic Monaghan) and his partner Arlo (Kadeem Hardison) are tasked with solving. To their surprise, war veteran Bella Sway (Emma McDonald), who was on a routine mission shuttling Earth envoy Indira Mare (Amara Karan) and her bodyguard Tomm Schultz (Joe Manganiello) to the Moon, becomes involved in the murder investigation. Try as she might, Zurer’s character, who wears many hats, cannot help but also be pulled into events unfolding around her.
“Maite Voss is a spiritual leader, a scientist, a believer – which is a Moonhaven term – art collector, medicine maker and a keyholder of IO,” says the actress. “Unfortunately, she becomes entangled in politics. After I got the role, I approached our marvelous showrunner/writer Peter Ocko [series creator] and asked about my character’s journey. He explained her story to me, which was very exciting. I can’t reveal specifics, but I can say that Maite has a secret that unfolds and sends her in a direction that might surprise some people and make others suspicious of her.
“The first thing that attracted me to Moonhaven when I read the script was the poetic language that’s used, particularly with Maite. As an actor, the challenge for me was to make sure people understood what she was saying, and that her words lent themselves to the story. Maite knows a great deal, but she’s also inexperienced in the sense that, like most Mooners, she is trauma-less. Mooners treat trauma with respect; they accept the situation and where they’re at emotionally. One of the most important things about Maite is that, again, she is a keyholder of IO, and IO is what makes Moonhaven what it is. Only one other person holds a key, an Earther, Indira Mare. These two women are connected in that way and equally powerful. In the end, the big question for me was how to play someone who is inexperienced in life and humanly flawed, but very wise as well. There’s this Yoda-type quality to Maite, which I had to find, and I wanted to show that she has a sense of humor as well, so it was quite a juggling act.”
Legacies, Losing Alice, Taken, War Room and In Therapy are some of Zurer’s other TV credits, while her feature film work includes Milada, Ben-Hur, Last Knights, Last Days in the Desert, Vantage Point, and Angels & Demons. Prior to Moonhaven, the actress gained plenty of genre experience working on the TV series Daredevil and the big screen’s Man of Steel.
“Daredevil is one of my favorite jobs because of my character Vanessa, who was so cool, and the chance to work with Vincent D’Onofrio [Wilton Fisk],” she enthuses. “The latter was a highlight for me. Vincent and I became close friends, and we had such amazing scenes together. The two of us always had fun playing off one another, and I think the production values of the show were incredible as well. Season one is a particular favorite of mine. I loved how they broke down Vanessa and how she slowly but surely falls in love with that monster.
“With Man of Steel, I’ll never forget walking onto the sets for the very first time. There was no green screen; it was the real deal. It was one of the most exciting artistic experiences I’ve ever had because you felt like you were really living on the planet Krypton. Also, working with [director] Zack Snyder was a true gift. He’s such a fun man and a true artist. In some ways Zack is a non-conformist as far as his storytelling and the way he approaches things, both of which I love.”
Steve Eramo
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