Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot (born April 30, 1985, Petaḥ Tiqwa, Israel) is an Israeli actress, producer, and model. After having roles in several television shows and films in the 2000s and 2010s, she catapulted to fame with her portrayal of the DC universe superhero Wonder Woman.
Gadot was born in Petaḥ Tiqwa and grew up in nearby Rosh HaʿAyin, a small town east of Tel Aviv–Yafo, living with her parents and younger sister. She was raised in the Jewish faith and has said that her faith and Israeli identity are very important to her. Gadot described herself as having been very active as a child, playing several sports; she also studied dance for 12 years. After she graduated from high school, she won the Miss Israel pageant held in 2004. As Miss Israel, she was a contestant in the Miss Universe competition later that year, but she did not place, later commenting that she was not interested in being Miss Universe and did everything she could to make sure that she would not be chosen as the winner. When she was 20 years of age, she began two years of mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF; 2005–07), serving as a combat fitness instructor. She met her future husband, Jaron Varsano, during this time; they were married in 2008.
Gadot, who had begun modeling after winning the Miss Israel pageant, continued to do so during and after her military service; she also studied law and international relations at IDC Herzliya (now Reichman University) at Herzliya. Gadot segued from modeling into acting, making her debut in 2007 in Bubot, an Israeli television series. Her first big Hollywood break came when she was cast in Fast & Furious (2009) as Gisele Yashar, a ex-Mossad agent and weapons expert, a role she would reprise in Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and Furious 7 (2015). Gadot did much of her own stunt work in the action-packed thrillers. During this time she also had small roles in other movies and worked in television.
In 2013 Gadot was selected to portray Wonder Woman in several DC universe films; she made her debut as that character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Gadot had starring roles in three other films released that same year: Triple 9 and Criminal, both thrillers, and Keeping Up with the Joneses, an action comedy. She went on to star in the highly anticipated Wonder Woman (2017)—directed by Patty Jenkins—which cemented Gadot’s status as an international star. Prior to filming, Gadot spent several months engaged in physically demanding training to prepare for the role of the superhero, and once again she did much of her own stunt work. She reprised her role as Wonder Woman in Justice League(2017), which was later reedited and released in 2021 as Zack Synder’s Justice League, and in Wonder Woman 1984, released in 2020.
Meanwhile, she voiced the character of Shank in the animated Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018). Gadot returned to the action and thriller genre playing a world-class art thief in Red Notice (2021). She also starred in a film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s mystery Death on the Nile, directed by Kenneth Branagh and released in 2022. Because of Gadot’s service in the IDF as well as her vocal support for Israel, some of her films have been banned in some Arab countries that strongly support Palestine and have tense relations with Israel. In 2019 Gadot and her husband formed their own production company, called Pilot Wave, to focus on bringing inspirational and compelling stories to the screen.