"I think if you play a character that is fearless, then it's boring."
Oded Fehr (born on November 23, 1970 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli film and television actor now based in the United States.
He is known for his appearance as Ardeth Bay in The Mummy (1999) and its sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as Carlos Oliveira in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction and Resident Evil: Retribution, Faris al-Farik in Sleeper Cell, the demon Zankou in the TV series Charmed and Eli Cohn on V2009. He recently portrayed Eyal Lavin on Covert Affairs, as well as Beau Bronn on Jane by Design and Mossad Deputy Director Ilan Bodnar on NCIS.
Notable roles include:
- Ardeth Bay in The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns
- Carlos Oliveira in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction and Resident Evil: Retribution
- Faris al-Farik in Sleeper Cell
- Zankou in Charmed
- Eli Cohn on V (2009)
- Eyal Lavin on Covert Affairs,
- Beau Bronn on Jane
- Mossad Deputy Director Ilan Bodnar on NCIS
- Doctor Fate in Justice League
- Osiris in Destiny 2
- Amal Ali Akbar in Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy?
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Equinox
- Young Justice (2010) - Ra's al Ghul
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) - The Living Mummy
- The Choten in Kaijudo
- Mr. Freeze in Batman Unlimited: Mechs Vs. Mutants
- Admiral Charles Vance on Star Trek: Discovery
Oded Fehr provides examples of the following tropes:
- Cast the Expert: As he served in the Israeli military, he already knew how to handle guns for his role in Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
- Fake Nationality: His relatively soft accent allowed him to use numerous dialects such as British, American, Epyptian, Argentine, French etc.
- Important Haircut: As he got fame with long hair, he chose to cut it short to avoid being typecast, and to allow himself some anonymity in public.
- The Other Darrin: As Jafar in Once Upon a Time. He replaced Naveen Andrews (who portrayed the character in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland; scheduling conflicts with Sense8 prevented him from reprising the role).
- Playing Against Type:
- Normally in action or horror movies, he also starred in the comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
- Mildly in Charmed (1998), as he plays the villainous demon Zankou.
- Plays Great Ethnics: Along with his native Israeli, he's been Arab, Brazilian, French and Greek.
- Spared by the Cut: Ardeth died in an early edit of The Mummy (1999). Stephen Sommers however decided that the character was too cool to be killed off and spared him, bringing him back for The Mummy Returns.
- Typecasting: He's played Mossad agents in Covert Affairs, The Blacklist and NCIS (albeit a rogue one in the latter).
