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15 Best Jewish Actresses You Should Totally Keep up With

Sarah Jenkins • Sep 27, 2026 • 6 min read

Settling for a career in acting is a fine way to accumulate wealth and attain a celebrity status but you mustn’t be a mediocre actor if you must remain relevant in the industry. There are thousands of actresses out there and a fair number of them are Jewish.

Nonetheless, you wouldn’t have to search hard to find the best Jewish actresses as their works have been tooting their horns. From Broadway to television and film, hardly would anyone contend that the fellas below are not the finest of the Jewish actresses in the world.

Who Are The Best Jewish Actresses?

15. Sarah Jessica Parker

The HBO Sex and the City star and winner of multiple awards including four Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards is known for the many characters she has played on television and film. Some people might recognize her from works like The Innocents, Honeymoon in Vegas, Did You Hear About the Morgan’s, Annie, and The First Wives Club. She is a Jew and her family is originally from Eastern Europe.

14. Lisa Kudrow

Who doesn’t love the character Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends? Lisa Kudrow is the actress that brought the character to life. She has won numerous awards for her work.

13. Laura Prepon

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Prepon is regarded as one of the best Jewish actresses around. Laura is known for playing Alex Vause in the hit TV show Orange is the New Black, as well as her roles in Southlander, The Girl on the Train, The Hero, and Come Early Morning. She is also very Jewish.

12. Rashida Jones

Rashida Jones is famous for playing the nurse Ann Perkins in the critically acclaimed television comedy series, Parks and Recreation. She also featured in The Office and The Social Network. Jones is also a movie director and producer.

11. Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe is one of the most famous Jewish actresses that have ever lived. She was also a major sex symbol for America in the ‘50s through ‘60s. She won a Golden Globe Award for her phenomenal role in the movie Some Like it Hot. It’s impossible to talk about the best performers that have ever lived without mentioning her name.

10. Maya Rudolph

Funny woman and actress Maya is also one of the best Jewish actresses in the business. She is popular for staring in the movies and series Grown Ups, Shrek the Third, Bridesmaids, and The Good Place. Her family members are Ashkenazi Jews and she shows no indication of abandoning the faith.

9. Lizzy Caplan

Elizabeth was born and raised a Reform Jew. She is well known for her roles in the movies and television series such as Mean Girls, Cloverfield, Masters of Sex, The Class, Now You See Me, and Bachelorette. History would remember her as one of the best Jewish actresses of her time.

8. Natalie Portman

This actress was born in Jerusalem to Jews who gave her the Hebrew name “Ne-ta-Lee”. She began her acting career in the movie Leon, The Professional in which she played the young heroine Mathilda. She also starred in the movies Anywhere but Here, V for Vendetta, No Strings Attached, Jackie, and A Tale of Love and Darkness.

7. Jamie Lee Curtis

This actress began her career in the 1978 horror movie Halloween. She has won several awards for her outstanding performances. Her grandparents were Hungarian Jewish Immigrants so she was raised in the faith and continue to practice it. Some of her most notable works include True Lies, You Again, A Man in Love, and Trading Places.

6. Mayim Balik

This Big Bang Theory star, trailblazing neuroscientist, and author is also one of the best Jewish actresses there is. She is popular for playing Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on the award-winning comedy show, The Big Bang Theory, for which she has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress, and Critics Choice Award for the same category which she took home. Her grandparents were immigrants who moved to America from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary.

5. Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow is renowned for her acting skills and business acumen, which has led to the million-dollar success of her lifestyle company, Goop. She became famous for her roles in numerous movies such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, Iron Man, Glee, Shakespeare in Love, Seven, Sliding Doors, and Proof. She is an Ashkenazi Jew of Polish heritage.

4. Mila Kunis

Born Milena Markova Kunis in Soviet Russia. Her family was Ukrainian Jews who fled the Soviet Union to escape antisemitism. The Jewish actress is known for the many characters she has played on film and television series including Family Guy, That ‘70s Show, Black Swan, The Book of Eli, Friends with Benefits, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She is also married to the famous actor Ashton Kutcher.

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3. Scarlett Johansson

The award-winning actress is an Ashkenazi Jew by way of her Danish father. She has been acting since she was a child and she practiced doing so by staring into the mirror until she began to cry. Since her debut appearance in North, Scarlett has gone ahead to star in If Lucy Fell, Her, Under the Skin, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Black Dahlia. She has taken her vast and incredible talent to stage, television, and the music studio as well. You can’t count her out among the best Jewish actresses.

2. Lea Michelle

Lea is an accomplished actress whose impeccable talent has taken from Broadway to film and television. She is also a successful singer with prestigious awards to her name. Lea was raised as a Sephardic Jews by her father.

1. Zoey Deschanel

Although the New Girl star was not born Jewish, she converted to Judaism shortly before she married her Jewish husband, the producer Jacob Pechenik. Zoey has featured in several television shows and movies such as All the Real Girls, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Almost Famous, The Happening, Yes Man, and Our Idiot Brother. She also has a thriving musical career and is one half of the band She & Him.

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