Yael Grobglas

Grobglas was born in Paris on May 31, 1984.[1] Her father was French and Jewish, and her Austrian mother converted from Christianity to Judaism.[4] She moved to Israel with her parents at the age of three.[4] From ages three to eighteen, she studied several styles of dance.[1] Reflecting on her school years, she described herself as a “weird, funny person” who spent time with other unconventional children.[5]

She participated in the 2004 “Walla Girl” contest and went on to work as a model.[1] Her interest in acting developed during that brief modeling career: after she spontaneously took a bow on a fashion-show runway and was reprimanded, her father, who had been watching from the audience, encouraged her to pursue acting because she clearly enjoyed performing.[2] She entered an acting workshop at his urging, initially expecting to attend for his sake, but said she fell in love with acting after the first class.[2]

Grobglas’s early screen work included Ulai Hapa'am and a breakout lead role in the science-fiction teen series Ha-Iy (The Island, 2007–2009).[4][2] While making Ha-Iy, she learned practical aspects of screen acting, including how cameras operated and how to position her face in the light.[2] After the first season, she enrolled at the Yoram Loewenstein Performing Arts Studio in Tel Aviv, explaining that she wanted to remain immersed in acting while waiting for further work.[2]

Her Israeli credits extended across several genres.[2] She had a supporting role in Kalevet (Rabies, 2010), Israel’s first horror film, and a comic role in Ha-Shualim (The Foxes, 2012).[2] A 2012 profile also listed appearances in Hatzuya and a guest role in Yehafim, and identified her as Gabi Bar-Lev in HOT’s Tanuchi, alongside Hana Laszlo, Gilat Ankori, Evelyn Hagoel, and Zofit Grant.[5] She appeared in two episodes of Sabri Maranan and had finished filming the Israeli film Zchuchiot by the time of a 2014 report.[6] She also appeared in the 2011 MTV Music Award-winning video for We the Kings’ “Say You Like Me.”[2]

Her initial American television opportunities included The Selection, a pilot filmed in Hungary and based on a futuristic book; the pilot was not picked up.[4] She subsequently appeared in The CW’s Reign, a period fantasy series set in sixteenth-century Scotland.[6] The recurring part was her first role in an American series and brought her to the attention of Jane the Virgin creator and showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman.[2]

Grobglas joined Jane the Virgin as Petra, the wife of Rafael Solano and a foil to Jane.[2] The American dramedy was loosely adapted from a Venezuelan telenovela and combined heightened dramatic situations with tragedy, humor, and warmth.[2] Its cast also included Gina Rodriguez and Andrea Navedo, and the series began in 2014.[7] Urman wanted Petra to be more than an “ordinary trophy wife” and said Grobglas exceeded her expectations.[2]

Grobglas said the script attracted her because it made her laugh and brought her to tears within minutes.[4] She saw the series as a story about a warm, recognizable family, despite its extraordinary dramatic situations.[4] The role also allowed her to move rapidly between comedy and drama, sometimes “within the same thirty seconds.”[2] Urman identified Grobglas’s dry, understated comic presence as an unexpected strength.[2]

In developing Petra, Grobglas resisted approaching her simply as a villain.[2] She described a strong woman responding to circumstances that pushed her toward choices she might otherwise not make, continuing to fight even when she might prefer a quieter life.[2] She also explained Petra’s behavior through her unreciprocated love for Rafael and the heartbreak that followed, while identifying Petra’s relationship with her mother, Magda, as increasingly important.[4] To understand the character’s predicament, Grobglas asked how she herself would react if another woman were impregnated with her husband’s sperm.[2]

Grobglas relocated from Israel to Los Angeles for Jane the Virgin after approximately two years of traveling between the two cities.[2][8] She said she had refused to settle in Hollywood without securing a job first.[8] In a 2015 interview, she recalled that the reception of the first season surprised the cast and encouraged them to improve their work.[8] Filming days could last as long as sixteen hours; away from the set, she was learning French and knitting.[8]

She continued to follow Israeli news and speak daily with family and friends, emphasizing that American work was not a substitute for working in Israel.[8] Describing her ambitions, she said, “I don’t really consider it a transition, I consider it more an expansion in a way,” adding that her eventual dream was to work in both countries.[2]

Her film work included JeruZalem, in which she, Yon Tumarkin, and Danielle Jadelyn played American tourists who encounter winged zombies in Jerusalem during Yom Kippur.[9] The independently produced film used a found-footage horror format, won an audience-choice award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and was sold to dozens of countries and territories.[9]

In 2022, Grobglas starred in Hallmark Channel’s Hanukkah on Rye as Molly Spiegelman, who runs an old-fashioned Jewish deli on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.[3] The film’s romance develops around a business rivalry: Jacob, played by Jeremy Jordan, arrives in New York seeking a location for his family’s deli next to Molly’s establishment.[3] A Hanukkah song contest hosted by Molly features Lisa Loeb as its winner.[3]

In 2023, Grobglas was reported to be in advanced negotiations for the lead in the proposed film Jerusalem 67; the report did not confirm that she ultimately accepted or performed the role.[10] The proposed character was a civilian haunted by a painful childhood who leaves her family to serve on the front lines of the 1967 war.[10]

By 2026, Grobglas was appearing in the legal drama Matlock, with a role that grew from a secondary part into a more prominent one and included scenes opposite Kathy Bates.[11] The series was distributed in Israel by yes, HOT, and Partner.[11]

Grobglas’s portrayal of Petra attracted particular attention during the fourth season of Jane the Virgin, when the character experienced a sexual awakening and developed her relationship with Jane.[12] Many fans praised the portrayal of Petra as queer.[12] By 2026, Grobglas had a reported 1.1 million Instagram followers, many of whom had begun following her during Jane the Virgin.[11]

Discussing a career encompassing science fiction, horror, comedy, and historical drama, Grobglas emphasized her preference for challenging roles rather than familiar territory.[2] As she put it, “I feel like if I consider myself comfortable in something then that’s not exactly where I want to be.”[2] She regarded her parents’ occasional ability to forget they were watching their daughter play Petra as a compliment to her performance.[2]