106 | MAY 19 • 2022
DID HE DO IT? TWO
SEPHARDI SERIES ON
NETFLIX, THAT ’70S
RE-BOOT
The Staircase, an original
eight-episode HBO Max
series, premiered on May
5. Three episodes were
released then; remaining
episodes premiere on fol-
lowing Thursdays. It’s based
on a real case. In 2001,
novelist Michael Peterson
(played by Colin Firth) was
accused of killing his wife.
She was found dead at
the bottom of a staircase.
Peterson said he was out-
side and didn’t hear her
fall. Almost all reviews of
the HBO series are positive,
with Firth singled out for
praise.
Peterson was represent-
ed by David Rudolph, a
seasoned defense attor-
ney (played by Michael
Stuhlbarg, 57). Records I’ve
checked make me almost
certain that Rudolph is
Jewish.
A French company made
a 10-part English language
documentary (also called
The Staircase) as the trial
was proceeding. It made a
follow-up three-part docu-
mentary after the verdict.
The case became an inter-
national sensation after all
13 episodes appeared on
Netflix.
Netflix streams “tons of
stuff,” but provides such
minimal descriptions on
its website that it is easy
to not know that the film
or mini-series has a lot of
Jewish content. Few Netflix
foreign offerings (except
Israeli) have Jewish con-
tent, so anyone interested
in such content has a very
hard time finding the few
(foreign) Jewish offerings.
A case in point is Heirs of
the Land, a Spanish-made
series that began streaming
its second season in April.
The brief website descrip-
tion gives no clue that this
season is largely about the
lives of Spanish Jews in the
late 1300s. (In 1492, Jews
were forced to leave Spain
if they didn’t agree to con-
vert to Catholicism).
Kudos to the person who
told the Jewish Telegraph
Agency (JTA) about the
series. They posted a quite
good article (May 5), 10
days after Heirs premiered
and that’s how I become
aware of this series.
Heirs follows the life
of a Catholic young man.
The first season had little
Jewish content. However,
the eight-episode second
season finds this man in
trouble and taking refuge
with a Jewish family. The
JTA reports that “Heirs
takes a deep dive into what
it meant to live as a Jew
in Spain at the time, when
the strictly Catholic coun-
try began its descent into
organized persecution of
minorities.”
On May 20, Netflix will
release The Beauty Queen
of Jerusalem, an award-win-
ning Israeli TV series.
This 10-episode series is
based on a best-selling
novel by Sarit Yishai-
Levi, 75. Beauty’s main
cast includes Michael Aloni,
38, the star of the Israeli
mega-hit series Shitsel.
Beauty follows a
Sephardic, Jerusalem-
based family during the
Ottoman Empire (before
1917), the British Mandate
(1919-1948) and the Israeli
War of Independence (1947-
49). Variety says, “[The
series] is lush with myste-
rious powers, forbidden
loves and Israeli history.”
The Hollywood Reporter
reported last week that five
of the six original mem-
bers of the cast of That
’70s Show will make guest
appearances in a new
Netflix series titled That
’90s Show.
That ’70s Show was a
big hit and aired from 1998-
2004. The new series is set
in 1995. It focuses on Leia,
the daughter of (original
characters) Eric and Donna.
It follows Leia as she visits
Eric’s parents for the sum-
mer.
The original cast
co-starred as six (supposed-
to-be) teenagers. They
were Topher Grace (as Eric).
Grace’s paternal grand-
father was Jewish; Laura
Prepon, now 42 (as Donna).
Prepon’s father is Jewish.
She is married to actor
Ben Foster, 41, who was
raised in his father’s Jewish
faith; Wilmer Valderrama
(as Fez); Mila Kunis, now
38 (as Jackie); Ashton
Kutcher (as Kelso); and
Danny Masterston (Hyde).
Masterson won’t be in the
new series (see below).
Kutcher is married to
Kunis. While he has not
converted to Judaism, his
interest in Kabbalah has
been strong and ongoing
for decades. It appears that
he knows Hebrew, and
he is well-acquainted with
Judaism. He’s often trav-
eled to Israel for personal
and business reasons.
Kunis, who was born
in Ukraine, came to the
United States when she
was 7. Her family received
resettlement aid from
HIAS (formerly known as
the Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Society). HIAS, as it known
now, helps refugees of
any background. Since last
March, Kunis and Kutcher
have raised more than $30
million to aid Ukrainian ref-
ugees.
In 2017, four women
accused Masterson of rape
(charges he denied). He
was indicted for one rape
in 2020 and will stand trial
this coming August.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
JAY GODWIN
Michael
Stuhlbarg
ASRAA12345
Michael Aloni
COLLIDERVIDEO
Mila Kunis