Gal Gadot

Gal Gadot is an Israeli actress and model. As an actress, Gadot is known for her role as Gisele Yashar in The Fast and the Furious film series. In 2016, Gadot began playing the role of Diana Prince / Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, starting with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and continuing as the lead in Wonder Woman (2017) and the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).

In 2013, she was ranked as the second-highest earning model in Israel behind Bar Refaeli. She is the face of Gucci’s Bamboo perfume.

Gadot was born on April 30, 1985, in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. In Hebrew, her first name means “wave” and her surname means “riverbanks”. She is the daughter of Irit (née Weiss), a teacher, and Michael Gadot, an engineer. Both her parents were born in Israel, and they had Hebraized their surname from “Greenstein” to “Gadot.” Her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Gadot stated that she was raised in a “very Jewish, Israeli family environment.” Her ancestry is Polish-Jewish, Austrian-Jewish, German-Jewish, and Czech-Jewish. Her high school major was biology. She says that she was successful at basketball in high school due to her height.

She was ambitious and said her parents taught her always to stay focused and “be like a horse,” because “horses are only focusing on their lane, so [my parents] were like, ‘Just focus on your own path.’”

At 18, Gadot won the 2004 Miss Israel competition and competed in the 2004 Miss Universe pageant in Ecuador. In an interview with InStyle, Gadot said she deliberately tried to lose, and did, because she didn’t like that at 18, she had become a celebrity and attracted paparazzi. 

After participating in the competitions, she joined the Israel Defense Forces and completed two years of mandatory military service as a fitness/combat readiness instructor. She says of her time in the army: “You give two or three years, and it’s not about you. You give your freedom away for a while. You learn discipline and respect. The things I’ve been through as a soldier prepared me to deal with career things as well.” She said, “When you’re 18, you feel like the world surrounds you. The army shows you that it actually doesn’t.”

She met her future husband while she was in the army. “He met me in uniform,” she told InStyle.  “He loved it. I still had one year left in my service.”

After leaving the army, Gadot studied law and international relations at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya. When she had completed her first year of school, a casting director called her to audition for the part of Bond girl Camille Montes in the film Quantum of Solace. Although she lost the part to Olga Kurylenko, she did get a role on an Israeli television show.

In 2007, the 21-year-old Gadot took part in the Maxim photo shoot “Women of the Israeli Army.” She was also featured on the cover of the New York Post. In April 2012, Shalom Life ranked her Number 5 on its list of “the 50 most talented, intelligent, funny, and gorgeous Jewish women in the world” behind model Bar Refaeli and actress Eva Green. In 2014, Gadot was one of two Israeli actresses, along with Odeya Rush, listed as an upcoming leading lady by InStyle magazine.

She has led international campaigns for Captain Morgan rum, Gucci fragrances, Vine Vera skincare ranges, and advertised Jaguar Cars. She is the face of Gucci’s Bamboo perfume brand, Huawei smartphones, and Miss Sixty. She has featured as the cover girl on Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Bride Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, UMM, Cleo, Fashion, Lucire, and FHM. Gadot was the main model for fashion brand Castro in 2008-2016. In 2013, her annual modelling salary was estimated at $700,000, more than that of other famous Israeli models such as Esti Ginzburg and Shlomit Malka, although significantly less than Bar Refaeli.

In 2008, Gadot starred in the Israeli drama Bubot.

The same casting director who rejected her for the Bond film hired Gadot for the role of Gisele in Fast & Furious​​​​​​, the fourth film in the franchise. Gadot said, “I think the main reason was that [the director] Justin Lin really liked that I was in the military, and he wanted to use my knowledge of weapons.” Gadot performed her own stunts in the Fast & Furious films. 

In 2010, she played a small role in the action-adventure Knight and Day. Earlier that year, she appeared in the film Date Night as Natanya, the girlfriend of Mark Wahlberg’s character. In 2011, she returned to the Fast & the Furious franchise, reprising her role as Gisele in Fast Five. In 2013, Gadot played Gisele again in Fast & Furious 6.

Gadot played Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). She received swordsmanship, Kung Fu kickboxing, capoeira, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu training in preparation for the role. Gadot’s performance as the superhero was hailed as one of the film’s best parts.

Also in 2016, she played a small role in John Hillcoat’s crime-thriller Triple 9, where she starred with Kate Winslet and Aaron Paul. She also co-starred alongside Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, and Tommy Lee Jones in the poorly-received film Criminal, as the wife of Ryan Reynolds’ character. Gadot also appeared in the comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses along with Isla Fisher, Zach Galifianakis, and Jon Hamm.

Gadot, fellow Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter, DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and UN Under-Secretary General Cristina Gallach appeared at the United Nations in October 2016, the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Wonder Woman, to mark the character’s designation by the United Nations as its Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls.

In 2017, she became an international superstar with her role in Wonder Woman, which she reprised the same year in Justice League. That year, she was the highest-grossing actress, earning $1.4 billion. The attention also led to the opportunity to host Saturday Night Live.

In 2018, Gadot voiced Shank in the animated Walt Disney film Ralph Breaks the Internet. She also appeared in the music video for Maroon 5’s song “Girls Like You” featuring Cardi B. She also played herself in an episode of The Simpsons.”

In October 2019, Gadot formed a production company, Pilot Wave, with her husband, Jaron Varsano. She told InStyle, When she began her career her goal was, “‘Get a job as an actress.’ I got that in Israel; then it was, ‘Get a job as an actress in America.’ Then, ‘Get a meaningful role.’ Now it is to tell stories that are meaningful for me, but also to develop our own thing. I want our production company [Pilot Wave] to be solid, and to use that to control my career destiny as far as I can.”

She is set to star in and co-produce an Apple TV+ limited series about actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr and the Warner Bros. historical thriller about humanitarian Irena Sendler.

Gadot was named as a celebrity endorser for Smartwater in 2020, replacing Jennifer Aniston. In March 2020, Gadot and several other celebrities performed an online version of the song “Imagine” by John Lennon, intended to raise morale in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the video was widely ridiculed for the participants’ (excluding real singers) poor voices and their “smug self-satisfaction.”

In 2018, Time magazine named Gadot one of the 100 most influential people in the world. 

In 2020, Forbes ranked Gadot as the third highest-paid actress in the world, with annual earnings of $31.5 million, including $20 million from her role in Red Notice. The film, which co-starred Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, was the most-watched movie in Netflix history as of December 2021.

After her movie Death on the Nile was released in 2022, it was banned in Lebanon and Kuwait because she had served in the IDF. Wonder Woman was also banned.

She was scheduled to appear in a third installment of Wonder Woman, but the project was canceled after James Gunn took control of the studio responsible for the film. The decision was particularly surprising given that the first film made $800 million.

In March 2025, at the Never Is Now Summit on anti-Semitism and Hate, held in New York City, Gadot was awarded the Anti-Defamation League’s International Leadership Award for her outspoken advocacy against anti-Semitism and support for Israel. In her acceptance speech, Gadot emphasized the importance of confronting the rising wave of Jew-hatred, stating, “My name is Gal, and I am Jewish. And we have had enough of Jew-hatred.” She was recognized for her efforts following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, using her platform to amplify survivors’ voices and call for the release of hostages. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised Gadot’s leadership, highlighting her courage in fighting against rising anti-Semitism.

Later that month, Gal Gadot’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony was disrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The ceremony continued with Gadot expressing her gratitude for her career and highlighting the importance of hard work and faith. Gadot, who has been outspoken in her support for Israel, addressed her critics, emphasizing the need to speak out after the October 7 Hamas terror attack. 

Gadot is slated to play the lead role in a new film about Cleopatra. This sparked controversy over whether the role should go to an Arab or African actress. It also reflected ongoing attacks against her projects because of her Israeli citizenship and support for the Jewish state.

Supporters of the BDS movement called for a boycott of the 2025 Disney live-action film Snow White because of her appearance as the Evil Queen. The film’s star, Rachel Zegler, sparked a controversy when she posted, “Free Palestine,” after sharing a link to the movie trailer, which led to a surge in death threats against Gadot. In response, Disney increased security for Gadot and her family. Despite the threats and heightened tensions, Gadot chose to maintain a restrained public stance, limiting her comments to expressing support for civilian hostages taken after the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks.

Variety later reported that while the actresses got along during filming, Zegler’s comment after their joint award presentation at the Academy Awards that Gadot was a “professional pageant queen” was viewed as “a dismissive way to describe a fellow actress.” Disney subsequently kept the two apart at the film premiere and arranged for them to do separate press interviews. After the movie’s release, Zegler shared several posts about the cast, crew, production team, and co-stars that conspicuously omitted Gadot. The film was dogged by other controversies, including comments by Zegler about Donald Trump and the original Snow White, that were blamed for its disappointing reception at the box office.

Gadot married Israeli real estate developer Yaron Varsano on September 28, 2008. The couple owned a luxury hotel in the Neve Tzedek district of Tel Aviv, which they sold to Roman Abramovich in 2015 for $26 million. The two formed their own film-television production company, Pilot Wave, in 2019.

The couple has four daughters.

Sources: “Gal Gadot,” Wikipedia.
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Jon Caramanica, “This ‘Imagine’ Cover Is No Heaven,” New York Times, (March 20, 2020).
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Chloe Melas, “‘Red Notice’ is now Netflix’s most watched movie of all time,” CNN, (November 30, 2021).
Laura Brown, “Going There With Gal Gadot,” InStyle, (January 4, 2022).
Jesse O’Neill, “‘Death on the Nile’ banned in two Middle East countries over Gal Gadot’s Israeli military service,” New York Post, (February 12, 2022).
TC Phillips, “‘Frankly, I Don’t Understand It’: Gal Gadot’s Scrapped Wonder Woman 3 Gets Candid Reflection From DCEU Star,” ScreenRant, (October 12, 2024).
“Gal Gadot Receives ADL’s International Leadership Award, Declares: ‘My Name is Gal, and I Am Jewish,’” ADL, (March 4, 2025).
Marc Malkin, “Disney Scales Back ‘Snow White’ Hollywood Premiere Amid Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot Controversies,” Variety, (March 11, 2025).
Katcy Stephan, “Gal Gadot’s Walk of Fame Ceremony Disrupted by Confrontation Between Pro-Palestine and Pro-Israeli Demonstrators, Police Respond,” Variety, (March 19, 2025).
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Favour Adegoke, “Rachel Zegler’s ’Dismissive’ Remark About Gal Gadot That Sparked ’Feud’ Between ’Snow White’ Co-Stars,” Blast, (March 25, 2025).

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, by Gage Skidmore licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.