Mark Ivanir

Mark Alexandrovich Ivanir (; ; ) is a Israeli actor, known for his character roles in film and television. Fluent in six languages, Ivanir's film credits include Schindler's List, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Good Shepherd, The Terminal, Johnny English Reborn, A Late Quartet, and Emilia Pérez. On television, he has appeared on The Shield, Homeland, 24, Alias, The Blacklist, and Mayor of Kingstown.

On stage, Ivanir co-founded Israel's acclaimed Gesher Theater.

Early life Ivanir was born in Chernovtsi, Ukrainian SSR (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine) to a Jewish family. His family emigrated to Israel in 1972, and settled in the Pardes Katz neighbourhood of Bnei Brak. His father, Alexander, was an English language teacher, and his mother Malka a German language teacher. His maternal grandfather, Meshulem Surkis, was a Yiddish writer, journalist, actor, and theatre critic, who was an activist in the Yiddish cultural world. He was raised in a multilingual household, speaking Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Russian, and later learning English.

His national service in the Israel Defense Forces saw him involved in Operation Joshua, one of two operations by the IDF to bring Ethiopian Jews from Sudanese refugee camps to Israel. After completing his service, he turned down a job offer from the Mossad. He briefly studied medicine, before deciding on a life in the performing arts. He completed two years in a circus school, traveled throughout Europe performing on the streets as a clown, and ended up working in the Parisian Cirque Pawelles. After leaving the circus, Ivanir entered into formal theatrical training under Israeli director Nissan Nativ, performing at the Cameri Theater and Israeli Opera.

Career During this time, Ivanir had his first film role in the 1988 action film Iron Eagle II, directed by Sidney J. Furie. The film was a Canadian-Israeli-American co-production filmed in Israel with an international cast. Ivanir played a Soviet army serviceman, Mikhail Balyonev.

Following his studies with Nativ, Ivanir joined the Gesher Theater, a Tel Aviv-based company composed of emigrants from the former USSR. Using his knowledge of multiple languages, Ivanir translated and adapted eight foreign-language plays into Hebrew for the company. He moved to London to study under Philippe Gaulier at École Philippe Gaulier and Complicité.

Ivanir's first major film role was in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Schindler's List, where he played Marcel Goldberg. He worked with Spielberg twice thereafter, first for a cameo appearance in The Terminal, then again for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Ivanir held a pivotal role in Robert De Niro's 2006 film, The Good Shepherd, for which he won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, later landing a role in Barry Levinson's What Just Happened, this time acting alongside De Niro.

In 2011, he appeared in Universal's Johnny English Reborn, Universal's Big Miracle and 360.

His biggest part to date was in A Late Quartet, released from RKO pictures in the United States, in 2012. The film was voted as one of the New York Daily News 10 top films of the year. Ivanir played Daniel Lerner, the first violin of the string quartet, whose other members are played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Christopher Walken.

Ivanir has had over 60 guest star and appeared in guest lead roles on 24, Monk, CSI: NY, Law & Order, Fringe, CSI: Miami, Nikita and Royal Pains.

In 2016 Ivanir had a recurring role on Homeland as Russian intelligence agent Ivan Krupin.

In 2017, he played a Holocaust survivor in the German-language film Bye Bye Germany and recurred on Amazon's Transparent. In August 2019, Amazon Prime released the Israeli show The Beauty and the Baker, with Ivanir playing the part of Zvika Granot.

In 2018, he co-starred in the film Entebbe, directed by José Padilha, the creator of Narcos, and Bill Hader's HBO comedy Barry, in which he recurs as two Chechen brothers. He appeared in The Red Sea Diving Resort.

In 2024, Ivanir had a supporting role in Jacques Audiard's film Emilia Pérez, for which he won the Outstanding Ensemble Performance award along with his co-stars at the 2024 Mill Valley Film Festival.

Filmography Film Year Title RoleRef. 1988 Iron Eagle II Mikhail Balyonev 1989 Berlin-Yerushalaim Dov Ben Gelman 1991 Delta Force 3: The Killing Game Pietre Ivanovich 1993 Schindler's List Marcel Goldberg 2000 The Man Who Cried Man in Sweatshop 2001 Hollywood Palms Russian Mover 2003 Ish HaHashmal Avraham Rutenberg 2003 Marines Maj. Dmitri Kirilenko 2004 The Terminal Goran 2005 When Do We Eat? Rafi 2005 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Dive Bar Patron 2005 The Cutter Doctor Joseph 2006 Undisputed II: Last Man Standing Gaga 2006 The Good Shepherd Valentin Mironov #2 2007 The Hunting Party Boris 2008 What Just Happened Johnny 2008 Get Smart Russian Guy in Bathroom 2010 Holy Rollers Mendel Gold 2010 Undisputed III: Redemption Gaga 2010 The Human Resources Manager The HR Manager 2010 Bunraku Eddie 2011 360 The Boss 2011 Johnny English Reborn Artem Karlenko 2011 The Adventures of Tintin Afghar Outpost Soldier / Secretary (voices) 2012 Big Miracle Dimitri 2012 The Fourth State Aslan 2012 A Late Quartet Daniel Lerner 2016 The Man Who Was Thursday Jack 2017 Bye Bye Germany Holzmann 2018 7 Days in Entebbe Motta Gur 2019 The Red Sea Diving Resort Barack Isaacs 2020 Kajillionaire Stovik Mann 2022 Rubikon Dimitri Krylow 2023 Heart of Stone King of Spades 2024 Emilia Pérez Dr. Wasserman 2025 Idiotka Samuel Levlansky

Television

Video games Year Title Role NotesRef. 2003 SOCOM II U.S. Navy SEALs Voice Additional voices 2004 Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Jandran, Sok-ju Yang, CDP Soldier A 2005 Psychonauts Mikhail Bulgakov, Lungfish Zealot 2005 Call of Duty 2 Voice Additional voices 2006 Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror 2006 Gothic 3 2006 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent 2006 SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Combined Assault 2006 Call of Duty 3 Actor 2007 Blazing Angels 2 Voice 2007 World in Conflict 2007 Cars Mater-National Championship Yuri 2007 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Voice Additional voices 2008 The Bourne Conspiracy 2009 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand 2009 The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Mad Margo, Exbob 2009 World in Conflict: Soviet Assault Malashenko 2009 Wanted: Weapons of Fate The Russian 2010 Metro 2033 Eugene, Miller 2011 Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Russian Pilot 2011 Battlefield 3 Solomon 2011 Assassin's Creed: Revelations Prince Selim Additional voices 2012 Diablo III Voice 2012 Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Russian Bodark 2013 Metro: Last Light Pavel Morozov 2014 Wolfenstein: The New Order Set Roth 2015 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Voice Additional voices 2016 World of Warcraft: Legion 2016 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare 2017 Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Set Roth 2019 Metro Exodus Krest Additional voices 2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Russian soldiers Additional voices2020Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarDimitri Belikov also motion capture 2021Call of Duty: Vanguard Misha Petrov also motion capture