In faked scene, 'Fauda' cast stages genuine marriage proposal

Crew member has girlfriend hired for the show and then fictionally ‘kidnapped’ so that he can really ask her to marry him. Confused? So was she

By Jessica Steinberg 22 May 2019, 7:01 pm 2 Edit

Jessica Steinberg covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center.

The cast and crew of “Fauda” arranged and filmed a genuine, highly unusual, and rather harrowing marriage proposal on the set of the TV series this week.

The makers of the hit YES show — also shown on Netflix — which chronicles the adventures of an undercover Israeli commando team that immerses itself in the heart of Palestinian society, conspired with the groom, a member of the production crew, to set up the elaborate fictional scene culminating in the real-life proposal.

Eliya Sfinofolos, the crew member and would-be groom, arranged for his girlfriend of 18 months, Kerry Hassan, to be hired to play a minor role as a double on the show.

Hassan was ordered to sit in a van with a hood over her head, ostensibly as part of her role, then led out of the van by lead actor Lior Raz, who was also pointing a gun at her head and yelling in Arabic — a fairly typical sequence for the Israeli drama.

Marched indoors and placed in a chair, Hassan then had the hood taken off, and opened her eyes to find Sfinofolos kneeling in front of her with a ring, as a guitarist strummed romantically at their side.

Video of the carefully staged, genuine proposal showed Hassan first smiling to see her boyfriend, but then appearing profoundly baffled by what was going on. She later told the Ynet newsite that she didn’t know what was happening, and couldn’t understand what she was seeing.

Eliya Sfinofolos proposes to girlfriend Kerry Hassan while she is working as a double in a scene in ‘Fauda’, May 2019 (YouTube screengrab)

“I was in shock,” she said. “I was sure I was being ‘kidnapped,’ and I was totally immersed in my first acting role.”

Sfinofolos said the idea stemmed from a discussion he had with “Fauda” colleagues about how they had proposed marriage to their spouses, “and the idea of doing this came up, everyone threw in suggestions, and we built up the plan.”

Lior Raz (second from right), with Yaakov Zada Daniel (left) and Doron Ben-David (right) singing their congratulations to the newly engaged couple on the ‘Fauda’ set (YouTube screengrab)

“We knew that Eliya wanted to propose to his girlfriend, and we built the scene, staging it just for her,” said Raz, the show’s co-creator. “It was very emotional.”

Fortunately for all concerned, Hassan said yes. Much singing and dancing ensued, and was filmed — though not for the show. Clear?