Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra in Angels in Demons

Ayelet Zurer Photos! Here’s Ayelet Zurer pictures, Tom Hanks’ brainy cohort in the hit movie Angels and Demons. Zurer, 39, sometimes referred to as the Julia Roberts of Israel, first burst into American consciousness four years ago as the brilliantly beautiful pregnant wife of the Israeli terrorist-hunter portrayed by Eric Bana in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich,” then turned around to play a fierce, seductive terrorist herself in “Vantage Point.”

Zurer takes on the role of truth-seeking Italian physicist Vittoria Vetra on Angels and Demons. The plot revolves around a secret society of vengeful intellectuals, the Illuminati, who want to get back at the science-scorning Catholic Church of history by killing cardinals every hour on the hour and planting under Vatican City an explosive canister of antimatter, which Langdon must find and dispose of within 24 hours with Vetra’s help.

According to Howard, Zurer beat out eight other actresses who screen-tested with Hanks. “There’s something very un-self-conscious and honest and earthy about Ayelet,” Howard says, “and yet she has the capacity to deal with the scientific jargon in a way that felt honest, and she felt comfortable with it.”