-Our next guest is a talented actor.
You know from the film "Operation Finale"
and the hit Netflix series "Fauda."
He co-created and stars in "Hit & Run,"
which is available now on Netflix.
Let's take a look.
♪♪
[ Door slams ] -What the [bleep]
[ Grunting ]
[ Crashing ]
[ Grunting ]
-Please welcome to the show Lior Raz.
♪♪
[ Applause ]
-There's not a lot of talking here, yeah?
-Thank you. -How are you doing?
♪♪
-Welcome to the show. -Thank you.
-It's very nice to have you here.
-Great to be here.
-So, you know, you wrote this show, as well,
so obviously, you were aware, as an actor,
that you would be able to pull off a scene like that.
Is it fun to write it knowing that you're gonna
be the one who gets to do it?
-You know when I wrote it, me and Avi, my co-creator,
I thought -- we didn't know that I would be the actor.
-Oh, really? -Yeah, and then Netflix
called us and asked me to be there,
and it was great. Yeah.
-Netflix called me and said, "We don't want you."
-Yeah, I asked them to do that. [ Both laugh ]
So. you know, this is --
So, you have a military background,
and you have a background doing security.
-Yeah. -And then, all of a sudden,
you sort of make this shift late in life...
-Yeah. -...into being an actor.
-Right. -How did it dawn on you
that that's what you wanted to do?
-So, I was -- as you said, I worked in security.
I was in the Special Forces in Israel.
And then, I worked in, like, a technology company in Israel.
One day, I met a girl, Katya. And she looked at me,
and she said, "Why are you so sad when you're going to work?"
And I said, "I'm not sad. I'm very happy."
And she said, "No, I can see in your eyes
that you are very sad."
What would you do if I gave you a billion dollars?"
I said, "Of course, I'm gonna be an actor."
And she said, "Okay." And she opened the Yellow Pages.
Now you know how old I am. -[ Laughs ]
-She opened it, and she said,
"This is the best acting school in Israel.
Let's call them." So we called them.
And then, since then, I went there,
and it's -- I just became an actor.
-And not just an actor. You created --
The same co-writer. Yeah? -Right, with Avi.
-Avi and you create "Fauda"... -Right.
-...which is not only a wildly popular show
in your home country but then becomes
this sort of international hit. -Yeah.
-And it must have been, using your background
and writing a show like that, I'm wondering,
you know, obviously, you try to make it as realistic
as you remember it to be. -Right.
-Was it hard for you to watch those kinds of shows
having that background, the ones you didn't create,
did you ever watch them and think,
"Oh, this isn't how it was"? -Yeah, definitely.
And also, the fighting scenes and all the action scenes.
When you see that, you see that it's not --
it's not right. You know?
In real life, if you have a fight,
it's like it's supposed to end in 30 seconds.
You know? But in all those shows,
you have like two-minute, three-minute fights.
And we have it -- and we tried to do it as real as we can.
Also, how they do all the, you know --
how the Special Forces actually act.
And, you know, it's also --
When I was in the Special Forces in undercover units.
So you have to be an actor over there, as well.
But you don't have second take or third take or fourth take.
-[ Laughing ] Sure.
-You have just one take, and that's it.
You're acting for your life. It's crazy.
-So this is -- We were talking backstage.
You know, "Fauda," compared to a lot of American productions,
even though it looked really good,
a shoestring budget compared to what you got to work with here.
Plus, you shot half of this in New York.
What was your experience?
What were the biggest differences for you,
getting to work on an American production?
-So, in Israel, you don't have budget at all.
First of all. It's, like, very low budget.
You can -- With "Hit & Run," you know, we had so much.
I could shoot like 10 "Faudas"
in one episodes of "Hit & Run."
But when you're shooting in the U.S.,
everybody knows what they're doing. You know?
The photographer is doing just that.
The art doing just that.
In Israel, everything is mixed. You know?
So, one day, the boom man can tell that you're getting fat.
[ Laughter ]
And the makeup artist can tell you, "That was a bad scene.
You wasn't so good in that.
You should ask to do it again." You know?
-I just like that you're describing my in-laws.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
-You talked about the difference
that somebody could tell you you're getting fat.
You know, but this did --
Like, one of the downsides of COVID -- right? --
was, like, people had to take breaks,
and people's bodies changed.
And this actually has happened to you.
-Listen. I was shooting here in New York.
We went to Israel. The COVID started.
We have to stop. So I was in great shape.
So, during COVID, I hurt my back,
I stopped smoking, and I start baking.
-Uh-huh. -So it's like 15 pounds more.
I was -- I gained 15 pounds. And then they told me,
"In two months we go back. We're shooting again in Israel."
So I had to lose 15 pounds in two months.
-But you're the writer.
Why didn't you just change your character?
-Because you have continuity, you know?
-Oh, right. That's it.
You shot all over New York City to make this show.
-Right. Right.
-Had you spent any time here to that degree before?
-Yeah. I lived here for a while when I was younger.
Yeah, I hated it when I was younger.
It was like -- It was too much for me.
As you can see in "Hit & Run,"
we tried to see how different it is from Israel.
Israel is much more light, more blue and yellow.
Here it was like, everything is closing on you.
I felt like a fish out of water when I was young.
And also, this character that I'm doing,
you know, he's a fish out of water in New York.
-Gotcha. -Yeah.
-As I mentioned, you know, "Fauda" became this show
that started having international appeal.
I imagine you got recognized a great deal in Israel,
but what happened to you in sort of a
maybe not perfect places to get recognized.
-Listen, I -- I came -- For the first time --
I didn't even know that it's a big hit here, as well.
So, I came, you know --
As an Israeli when you go to immigration in the airport,
they're looking at you.
I feel guilty every time that I'm there.
They're asking you some questions --
questions that I felt that, you know?
So I was there, and for the first time
after "Fauda" released on Netflix,
and I walked, and I saw an officer
looking at me, like, staring at me.
And I said to myself, "Come on, Lior.
You're gonna be there like for hours now?
Interrogation after interrogation."
So, I was standing in line, and then I was the first one,
and I saw that she is free.
So I told the guy behind me, "No, you can go to her.
It's okay. I'm not in a hurry."
-[ Laughs ] -And then she said --
she looked at me and said, "You, you, you, you!
Come right now, over here." And I said, "Oh [bleep]"
I was sweating and everything. And she looked at me,
and she said, "So, when's the second season
of 'Fauda' gonna release?" [ Laughter ]
I said, "What? Are you watching 'Fauda'?"
She said, "Yeah. Everybody here watched 'Fauda.'"
And then she said -- she said to all the officers,
"Look who's here! Doron is here, Doron is here!"
-[ Laughs ] -And then I went out.
I took an Uber, and it was, like, an Indian driver
that recognized my voice, and he almost did an accident.
"Doron, Doron, Doron!" -[ Laughing ]
-So, yeah. Everybody, yeah.
Many people recognize me now. -Well, that's nice.
That's quite the accomplishment. Not a lot of people
can shift gears into a career as well and smoothly as you did.
Congratulations on the new show,
and thanks so much for making the time for us tonight.
-Thank you. Thank you so much.
-"Hit & Run" is available now on Netflix.