By Mallory Mattingly
Gal Gadot, who starred in the Teddy Bear Award®-nominated movie WONDER WOMAN, just celebrated her 40th birthday on April 30. Here’s a look at how she became the star she is today.
Gadot grew up in Rosh Ha’ayin, Israel, with her parents and younger sister.
“I had a very sheltered kind of life,” Gadot told Rolling Stone magazine. “There was no TV-watching. It was always ‘Take a ball and go play.’ In general, I was a good girl, a good student, a pleaser, and I was a tomboy. Always with wounds and scratches on my knees.”
After Gadot graduated from high school, she was mandated to serve two years in the Israel Defense Forces. In between graduation and her mandatory two years, Gadot’s mother enlisted her in a Miss Universe pageant.
“I told myself, ‘I’m just gonna do this. They’re gonna fly us to Europe, and I’m gonna get to tell my grandchildren that Grandmom did the Miss Israel thing.’ Little did I know that I would win,” the actress said.
“I knew that I did not want to win Miss Universe. It wasn’t my thing. For an 18-year-old, it looked like too much responsibility,” the WONDER WOMAN star added.
Therefore, Gadot deliberately did all she could to lose the pageant. She pretended she couldn’t speak English, and she wore the wrong clothes, both of which resulted in her not making the top 20.
“I lost majorly,” she said with a smile on her face. “I victoriously lost.”
After her time in the Israel Defense Forces, Gadot met real-estate developer Yaron Versano, and the pair later married.
After her marriage, she enrolled in law school because she wanted to be done relying on a career based on looks alone.
However, a call she got to audition for a Bond girl changed her life.
“I told my agent, ‘What are you talking about? I’m in school. I’m not an actress. I’m not gonna go.’ And he was like, ‘Just show respect and go,’” Gadot recalled.
That one audition led Gadot to landing a role in FAST & THE FURIOUS 4, which then led to WONDER WOMAN, and her career in Hollywood took off.
WONDER WOMAN, Gadot said, “stands for love and hope and acceptance and fighting evil,” a role she took on with pride.
“It was almost emotional, because we were so united in our desire to make something so delightful that people didn’t mind also talking about this deeper issue,” director Patty Jenkins said.
“We didn’t want to treat the misogyny in a preaching way,” Gadot explained of the film. “We wanted to surprise the audience.”
Related: Gal Gadot Confirms Plans for The Third Standalone WONDER WOMAN Movie
“Even at some early test screenings, women were coming to me afterward and saying, ‘I feel like you made a movie for me!’ ” Jenkins revealed. “But it wasn’t until the second week that the movement started, people going multiple times and taking girlfriends and grandmothers, and pictures sent to me from 90-year-old women who were wheeled in. All of that was absolutely stunning to see.”
After Gadot’s WONDER WOMAN shone at the box office, she began to use her platform to speak out other topics that matter to her, including the war in Israel.
“At least 250 Israelis have been murdered and dozens of women, children, and elders held as hostages in Gaza, by the Palestinian military group Hamas,” Gadot wrote in a post in October 2023. “Starting early morning, more than 3,000 rockets were fired. Hamas is holding hostages, controlling bases and settlements in Israel. There have been more than 1,500 injured, and heavy fighting is still ongoing.”
In another post, the actress wrote, “I stand with Israel, you should too. The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!”
Gadot’s films have garnered over $2 billion in box office revenue. Thanks to her outstanding performances, Gadot was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“There are moments in life that feel almost too big to put into words — this is one of them. To see my name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, surrounded by legends who have inspired me, is beyond anything I ever imagined. This star represents years of hard work, passion, and the unwavering belief of so many people who have lifted me up along the way,” the actress shared in an Instagram post on March 19.
From her humble beginnings in a small Israeli town to her remarkable Hollywood career, Gadot proves that hard work and standing up for what you believe in can make all the difference.
Read Next: Why Gal Gadot Advocates for Israel: ‘I Want to Bring Hope’
- Content: +2Share:
- Content: +1