By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
“Missing You” is a Netflix series that will premiere on Jan. 1. It is adapted from a novel by HARLEN COBEN, 62. This series is set in Manchester, England and all the actors are Brits. Here’s the premise: Detective Kat Donovan discovers her “missing” fiancé on a dating app over a decade after his disappearance.
There is no advance info on the background of supporting characters. I can tell you that two British Jewish actors (PAUL KAYE, 56, and SAMANTHA SPIRO, 58) have big supporting roles, and I can provide the names of their characters.
Kaye plays Monte LeBurne in “Missing.” In the ‘90s, Kaye launched his British career as the writer and star of “Dennis Pennis,” a huge hit satirical TV program. Tons of Brit TV guest roles and some stage work followed.
He’s best known in America for playing Thoros of Myr, aka “The Red Priest,” on the “Game of Thrones.” If you watched “Thrones,” you probably will remember that Thoros mystically brought back the leader of the “Brotherhood Without Borders” from death (seven times!).
Kaye met his wife, ORLY KATZ an Israeli, when he worked on her kibbutz (1983) shortly after he graduated from college. She moved to the U.K. not long before their 1989 wedding. They have two sons. Sadly, Orly’s mother, who stayed on the kibbutz, was killed (2009) by a rocket that Hamas launched at the kibbutz.
Spiro plays Nurse Sally Steiner (Jewish?) in “Missing.” Like Kaye, she’s best known in America for playing a “Game of Thrones” character (the mother of major character Sam Tarley). In the U.K., she is a major TV and stage actress. She’s won three Laurence Oliver awards (equivalent of Tonys).
The 2025 Golden Globe awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, Jan. 5 (CBS, 8 p.m.). Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes have separate awards for dramatic and comedy films.
Here are the Jewish (film) nominees: Best actor, Drama: TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, 29, as BOB DYLAN, now 83, in “A Complete Unknown”; and ADRIEN BRODY, 51, as Lazlo Toth, in The Brutalist.” Toth, a (fictional) architect, is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. Best actor, Comedy: JESSE EISENBERG, 41, as Robert Kaplan in “A Real Pain.” Kaplan is an American Jew who tours Holocaust related sites in Poland and GABRIEL LABELLE, 22, as “Saturday Night” Live creator LORNE MICHAELS, now 80, in Saturday Night. LaBelle’s father is Jewish. Best actress, comedy film: MIKEY MADISON, 25, as Anora, a stripper, in the film “Anora.” Supporting actor (drama or comedy): JEREMY STRONG, 45, as notorious lawyer ROY COHN in “The Apprentice” (about Donald Trump). Strong’s father is Jewish; Best screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain”; Best score: DANIEL BLUMBERG, 33, “The Brutalist.” Blumberg is a Brit with a long popular music career and he began writing film scores in 2018; HANS ZIMMER, 67, “Dune: Part Two”; Zimmer has won two Oscars and three Golden Globes.
Best Drama Film nominees (with a Jewish connection): “The Brutalist” (see above); “A Complete Unknown” (see above); and “September 5” (a historical film about how ABC sport and news reporters covered the 1972 murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games). Best Comedy Film: “Anora.” The two most important roles are played by Mikey Madison and MARK EYDELSTEYN, 22. He’s a Russian Jewish actor; Best comedy/musical films: “A Real Pain” (see above). Eisenberg wrote, produced, and had a star role in this film; and “Wicked.” It was co-written by WINNIE HOLZMAN, 70, and STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, 72, wrote the songs. Globes are also given to TV shows, actors, writers and directors, etc. Here, I am just covering the Jewish actors and actresses who are Golden Globe nominees. Best actor, TV series: JAKE GYLLENHAAL, 44, “Presumed Innocent”; Best actor, comedy: JASON SEGAL, 44. “Shrinking,” and ADAM BRODY, 45, as Rabbi Rokolov in “Nobody Wants This.” Best supporting actor (drama or comedy/musical): HARRISON FORD, 82, “Shrinking” and EBON MOSS-BACHRACH, 47, “The Bear”; Supporting actress (comedy/musical) HANNAH EINBINDER, 29, “Hacks.”
One tip: “The Brutalist” and “Anora” have had a very limited theater opening in 2024. Look for them in your theater in January.
The 11th season of “Finding Your Roots,” the acclaimed PBS series that traces the ancestry of famous people, begins on January 7. The names of guest celebs has been released, but as I write this, the date that a celeb will appear hasn’t been released. Just one Jewish celeb will be a guest this year: actress DEBRA MESSING, 56. She’s best known as the star of “Will and Grace,” the hit TV series.