- In Hebrew, Gal Gadot’s first name means “wave” and her surname means “riverbanks.”
- Gal Gadot was born in 1985, and for most of her childhood lived in the quiet suburb town of Rosh Ha’ayin. Her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. While her grandmother managed to escape Europe before the war broke out, her grandfather, Abraham, his mother and brother were sent to Auschwitz. Abraham was the sole survivor of the death camp; both his mother and brother were killed in the gas chambers.
- At the age of 18, Gadot won the Miss Israel beauty pageant, much to her own surprise. She only entered at her mother’s suggestion because she had six months to wait before entering the army. She then went on to compete in Miss Universe in 2004 but was so reluctant to win that she turned up late for events, wore the wrong kind of evening dress, and even pretended that she couldn’t speak English.
- One week after passing her Miss Israel crown to the next winner, 20-year-old Gadot joined the Israel Defense Forces and spent the next two years of service as a combat instructor, teaching Krav Maga and other forms of combat. Her military background and knowledge of weapons helped her get her breakout role as Gisele Yashar in “Fast & Furious.” In 2009, “Fast & Furious” director Justin Lin thought Gadot’s fighting spirit was so obvious that he added to her character’s backstory by making her a Mossad agent.
- After the army, Gadot spent some time modeling for Israeli clothing chain Castro and then went on to study law and international relations at what is now Reichman University. A casting director called her to audition for the part of Bond girl Camille Montes in the film “Quantum of Solace” but initially Gadot wasn’t interested because she thought she was too serious to act in movies. Though she didn’t get the role, she realized she enjoyed the process and wanted to act, and the same casting director hired her to play weapons expert Gisele for “Fast & Furious” a few months later.
- Gadot has often had roles where she rides a motorbike. If she looks natural on them, it’s because she loves motorbikes, and owned and rode a black 2006 Ducati Monster-S2R motorbike. She performed her own stunts in the “Fast & Furious” films, gaining recognition for her action sequences. She also rode a Triumph motorbike in the movie “Heart of Stone.”
- When Gadot auditioned for the role of Wonder Woman, she had no idea what the job was, and only found out two weeks later, when she was told she had the part. To train for the role, she received lessons in swordsmanship, Kung Fu, kickboxing, capoeira and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Her first outing as Wonder Woman came in the movie “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in 2016. The film was widely panned by critics, but almost all agreed that Gadot was the best part of the film.
- Ahead of the Israeli premiere of “Wonder Woman” in 2017, the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv was lit up to honor her with an illuminated message that said: “We are proud of you, Gal Gadot, our Wonder Woman.” Elsewhere in Tel Aviv, a large poster of the film included an added sentence in Hebrew exclaiming “We love you!”
- “Wonder Woman” became a major box office hit grossing $821.8 million, and Gadot received accolades for her portrayal of the Amazonian hero. It was the first superhero movie in over a decade to feature a female in the title role and gave girls everywhere an inspiring new role model.
- After the second “Wonder Woman” movie, “Wonder Woman 1984,” which came out in 2020, Gadot starred in the Netflix action comedy “Red Notice” (2021) with Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson. She then appeared with Kenneth Branagh in “Death on the Nile” (2022) and in “Heart of Stone” (2023).
None of her performances in these films sparked admiration from critics, and one of her lines in “Death on the Nile” – “Enough champagne to fill the Nile” — was corny enough to become a meme on Twitter.
- In 2017, Gadot was the third-highest grossing actress, with $1.4 billion in worldwide box office revenue. The following year, she was named as one of TIME’s 100 most influential people and ranked by Forbes as the 10th-highest-paid actress. In 2020, she had already risen to third place with annual earnings of $10 million. She remains one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood.
- Gadot has always spoken out in support of Israel and the IDF, even when it has cost her followers. Many of her films have been banned in countries like Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia. She has been particularly vocal in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, sharing posts about Israeli hostages kidnapped to Gaza. On October 7, she wrote on her Instagram, which has 108 million followers: “I stand with Israel; you should too. The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!”
- Gadot has four daughters with husband Jaron Varsano. Her eldest, Alma, celebrated her bat mitzvah in November last year. In February 2024, Gadot, who was in the eighth month of her fourth pregnancy, was diagnosed with a massive blood clot in her brain and nearly died. She had been suffering severe headaches for weeks, and after an MRI was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for emergency surgery, during which her daughter was delivered.
She revealed the health emergency in an Instagram post later in the year, where she thanked the doctors for saving her life, and said: “As we celebrate Hanukkah, a holiday of light and miracles, I reflect on the personal miracle I was granted. My daughter, Ori, is a constant reminder of resilience, hope, and the strength we carry within. My wish is that we all find our light, experience our own miracles, and continue to advocate for our health and for one another.”
14. In the new live-action “Snow White” based on the original 1937 animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” due for release on March 21, Gadot plays the evil queen. Gadot had to audition for the film because it was a musical and she spent a month preparing a song.Inevitably in this post-October 7 world, Gadot’s role in “Snow White” has sparked controversy, with pro-Palestinian activists calling for a boycott of the movie. These are the same forces at work behind the decision to minimize Shira Haas’ role in the Marvel movie “Captain America: Brave New World” and the targeting of other Israeli celebrities.
