You know Meital Dohan best as the seductive rabbinical Yael Hoffman in the hit Showtime series Weeds, but the Israeli actress has a long history in her native country playing complex characters in award-winning roles. Now Dohan is taking on the challenging and controversial role of Abby in Anthony Neilson’s Off-Broadway play Stitching, showing the unraveling of a woman’s mind in the wake of brutal love. She sat down with Playboy’s Amanda Wills at The Palm West in Manhattan for a candid interview.    

PLAYBOY: Let’s start with how this play came about.  What made you decide to extend your acting beyond the small screen and star in an Off-Broadway play?
MEITAL DOHAN: I did a lot of theater in Israel.  I was on stage almost every night for many years after I graduated acting school, so I always kind of feel like the stage is my home. I found the part of Abby to be very provocative, very deep and very emotional. I first read it with friend out-loud and kept saying, “What the hell?”  But after finishing it, we were both really moved. I felt like my heart could open up to it, and I just wanted to read it over and over again. 

PLAYBOY: Abby is a woman who has let her guilt take over her mental state, and shows her pain in several irrational ways. What did you do to prepare to play such a complex and intense character?  Were there any other roles that you studied?
MEITAL: At first I tried to simplify and understand what is actually happening. But it was also very important to understand why the character is racy and uses very graphic language. In a way she is losing her mind. I had to understand why she’s going through that journey and why she’s behaving this way. So I tried to connect to an emotional experience that I can translate myself, so it’s not her story, but my story.
 

PLAYBOY: The heat and chemistry between Abby and her lover Stu is hard to miss in the plot, but you and your co-star Gian Murray Gianino brought sexual tension, making the story seem more realistic. What did you and Gian do together to prepare for such an intense on-stage relationship?
MEITAL:  [Laughs] We got a hotel for the weekend. 

PLAYBOY: Well that would certainly do it.
MEITAL: No in all seriousness, Gian is married and his wife is great. We are actually friends. Gian and I have very good relationship. Whatever comes after that, like sexual tension or whatever, is because of our commitment to the roles.  

PLAYBOY: Abby is very passionate and sexual as well as illogical and short-tempered. What are some of the aspects her character that you yourself identify with?  Any parts you had a lot of trouble with?
MEITAL: What I identify with is her needs--her need to have security, to figure out a future, to find a lover who will commit to be with her. I wanted to express these feelings of neediness to a certain degree, but in a way that the audience could connect with. I think this is a concept that many women are going through. It’s conflict for myself while I am doing the character because I feel like I have experienced these things. In the modern world and capitalistic love today, people have these crazy love stories. It’s kind of brutal the way love is and the way we handle love. It’s like we have these great loves for months or years and then boom! It’s over. It’s not even human. It’s just our generation it seems.

PLAYBOY: How does playing Abby in Stitching compare to playing Yael Hoffman on Weeds?
MEITAL: They are both very sexual but very different. Yael is very fun, and everyone on Weeds is so creative.  It was all very light. On the other hand, Abby is well, you know -- she’s crazy.  When we started rehearsals I felt like I was going through couples therapy. The character really got under my skin. When the show finally opened, I wasn’t even that excited because I was so emotionally drained. But now I’m starting to get it into perspective because I gave birth to this role.  

PLAYBOY: The roles you play are often very sexual. Growing up in a small village in Israel, is it hard to portray these characters?  Do you have objections from your family?
MEITAL:  My family is very supportive in what I’m doing. They criticize my work sometimes, and it’s not necessarily the provocative work. They just like when I do interesting parts. If I went on a stupid talk show in Israel, they would criticize me for it. But if I were to have a part in a film where I am getting naked, they wouldn’t necessarily care about that aspect of it if it had a profound plot. It was funny because before both of my brothers came to Stitching I told them the show was very racy.  They just responded, “Well we wouldn’t expect anything less.”

PLAYBOY:  I noticed there was a Playboy magazine on the set. Was that on purpose?
MEITAL:  [Laughs] Yes, of course it was, but not because you were coming to the show. I was on stage once and saw dust balls and was thinking, “What the hell? When do they clean the stage?” I talked to the props guy, and he told me that he wanted to make the scene real. It’s been there for a while.

PLAYBOY:  The Wild Project Theater is very small and personal. The audience is almost eye-to-eye with the cast. How does it feel being a part of “In-Yer-Face” theater versus being on an elevated stage?  
MEITAL: It’s comfortable for me, and it’s right because it is so close to the audience. For this specific type of play, it felt like intimacy with the audience was very important.

PLAYBOY: Although you have dabbled in some comedy, most of your roles seem to be very dramatic, and the characters seem to have more layers than an onion. Are these the types of roles you prefer? What’s in the future for Meital?  
MEITAL: Right now I am working on few projects. I like theater, television and film. I like all things considered, I guess. As long as something has valuable content or it is relevant. I’m also working on two other films. I like to really change and do different genres of acting. While I have fun with lighter roles, I need a deeper challenge. Otherwise I start getting bored.