Born on April 30, 1985, Gal Gadot Varsano is an Israeli actress, model, and former winner of beauty pageants. She competed in the Miss Universe 2004 pageant and won the title of Miss Israel 2004. She served in the military for two years, then pursued acting roles while studying law. Her debut movie role came in Fast & Furious (2009), the fourth entry in the Fast and the Furious franchise.
Gadot received critical acclaim for her breakthrough performance in the 2017 film office smash Wonder Woman before being chosen to play the DC Comics character Wonder Woman on screen. Gadot has been included twice in the yearly rankings of the highest-paid actresses in the world and was listed by Time in 2018 as one of the 100 most important people in the world.
Quick Facts
- Birth Name: Gal Gadot Varsano
- Birth Date: April 30, 1985
- Birth Place: Petah, Tikva, Israel
- Gender: Female
- Career: Actress, Model
- Most Known For: With her role of Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe movies Wonder Woman (2017) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Gadot became a global celebrity. Since then, she has acted in two films: the mystery feature Death on the Nile (2022) and the action-comedy Red Notice (2021) on Netflix.
Early Life
Gadot was raised in Rosh HaAyin after being born on April 30, 1985, in Petah Tikva, where she had previously resided. Her surname means “riverbanks” and her given name means “wave” in Hebrew. Her parents had changed their last name from “Greenstein” to “Gadot” before she was born. Her mother, Irit (née Weiss), is a physical education teacher, and her father, Michael Gadot, is an engineer. Dana is the younger sister of Gadot.
Gadot was an active youngster who participated in a variety of sports and studied dancing. She told Vanity Fair that being a choreographer was one of her early professional goals. She spent twelve years studying and performing jazz and hip-hop dances while growing up in Israel. Her initial occupations were babysitting and working at a nearby Burger King. She majored in biology and graduated from Rosh HaAyin’s Begin High School.
As part of her two-year required military duty, Gadot was drafted into the Israel Defence Forces at the age of twenty-one and assigned as a combat fitness instructor. She said that having served in the military aided her in landing the part of Gisele Yashar in the Fast & Furious movie from 2009. Gadot studied law at Israel’s IDC Herzliya College (now Reichman University) following her military duty.
Career:
Modeling Career:
At the age of 18, Gadot decided to compete in Miss Israel, believing it would be enjoyable. “I never imagined I would win,” she told Glamour. “I was taken aback when I was crowned.” This triumph aided in the beginning of her modelling career. After that, she won and proceeded to represent Israel in the Miss Universe 2004 pageant, which was held in Ecuador that year.
As a model, she has spearheaded global marketing campaigns for brands including Gucci, Vine Vera skincare, Miss Sixty, Huawei smartphones, Captain Morgan liquor, and Jaguar cars. She was named the face of Gucci’s Bamboo fragrance in 2015.
Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Bride Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, UMM, Cleo, Fashion, Lucire, and FHM have all published her as a cover girl. From 2008 until 2016, Gadot served as Castro’s primary model. Her projected yearly compensation, including acting and modelling, was NIS 2.4 million in 2013.
When Gadot was twenty-one years old in 2007, she appeared on the cover of the New York Post after participating in the “Women of the Israel Defence Forces” picture shoot for Maxim. Gadot topped FHM’s list of the “100 Sexiest Women in the World” in 2017. Gadot also joined Revlon and Reebok as a brand ambassador in 2018. She made appearances in commercials for the “Live Boldly” Revlon and “Be More Human” Reebok campaigns.
Early Roles
A casting director got in touch with Gadot’s agent after her first year of college to schedule an audition for the role of Camille Montes in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. A few months after losing the role to Olga Kurylenko, Gadot acted in the 2008 Israeli drama Bubot.
2009 saw Gadot make her big screen debut as Gisele in the Vin Diesel and Paul Walker blockbuster Fast & Furious. In many follow-ups, including Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and Furious 7 (2015), she reprised her role. Gadot also starred in the Israeli film Kicking Out Shoshana (2014) and the 2010 films Date Night and Night and Day during this period.
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
When Gadot was chosen to play Wonder Woman (and her alter identity Diana Prince) in the high-profile action movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), she got the job of a lifetime. She admitted to having some difficulties when getting into character to Jimmy Kimmel on his talk program. Her outfit was initially “so tight, I literally could not breathe.” Gadot believes Wonder Woman is important because she is a role model, regardless of any wardrobe malfunctions.
In order to prepare for the part, Gadot trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, capoeira, Kung Fu, and swordsmanship. She nearly got the role of Faora-Ul in Man of Steel, but she turned it down since she was expecting a child. Instead, Antje Traue was chosen. A standout performance by Gadot as the superhero, marking the character’s first cinematic appearance, was mentioned.
Later, she costarred alongside Kate Winslet and Aaron Paul in the criminal thriller Triple 9, directed by John Hillcoat, in a tiny role. Later same year, she co-starred with Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, and Tommy Lee Jones in the action criminal thriller film Criminal, playing Ryan Reynolds’ wife. She costarred with Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, and Isla Fisher in the action comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses, which was her last movie of the year. She portrayed a secret spy.
‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Justice League’
Gadot played Wonder Woman in a stand-alone movie in 2017. In November 2017, she played the same character again in the ensemble film Justice League, her third entry in the DC Extended Universe. Gadot received an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the same year.
With $10 million in yearly earnings, Time magazine named Gadot one of the 100 most important persons in the world in 2018, while Forbes listed her as the tenth highest-paid actress globally. Gadot provided the voice of Shank in the Walt Disney Animation Studios production Ralph Breaks the Internet that same year. In the 2018 music video for the song “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, Gadot made an appearance.
‘Red Notice,’ ‘Death on the Nile,’ and ‘Fast X’
With $31.5 million in yearly earnings, Forbes placed Gadot as the third highest-paid actress in the world in 2020. Alongside Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, Gadot participated in Rawson Marshall Thurber’s action comedy Red Notice on Netflix in 2021. Despite being a financial success, reviewers criticized it harshly.
The same year, she costarred in the mystery film Death on the Nile (2022), directed by Kenneth Branagh, alongside Armie Hammer, Ali Fazal, Tom Bateman, and Annette Bening.
In 2023, Gadot appeared in Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash as Wonder Woman in uncredited cameos. She also had a cameo appearance in Fast X, marking her comeback to the Fast & Furious franchise. She starred as a double agent later that year in the action movie Heart of Stone on Netflix.
In addition to producing and starring in a new version of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 film To Catch a Thief, Gadot will play the Evil Queen in a live-action rendition of Disney’s 1937 animated picture Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Other Ventures
The actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr will be the subject of an Apple TV+ limited series that Gadot co-produces, along with the Warner Bros. historical thriller film Irena Sendler, which is based on the life of WWII humanitarian Irena Sendler. In October 2019, Gadot and her husband Jaron “Yaron” Varsano founded Pilot Wave, a film and television production company. 2020 saw Gadot feature in and co-produce the motion picture Wonder Woman 1984.
As one of the local Israeli celebrities, Gadot performed in Tfos Ta’Festigal – Harpatka BaMetzulot (Festigal 2008), the highest-grossing annual Israeli musical show for children during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. She acted, sang, and danced while wearing a mermaid costume. In 2020, Gadot was announced as the new celebrity spokesperson for Smartwater, taking over for Jennifer Aniston, who had held the position since 2008.
Personal Life
In 2008, Gadot wed Israeli property entrepreneur Jaron “Yaron” Varsano. Three girls, born in 2011, 2017, and 2021, make up their family. In 2019, the two founded Pilot Wave, a film and television production business. In 2015, Gadot and Varsano sold their boutique hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Roman Abramovich for a sum of $26 million. Gadot assisted in running the property.
Gadot has a strong passion for martial arts. She holds a black belt in Krav Maga and karate. She has worked for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as a combat instructor and trainer. The fact that she had a strong martial arts background was crucial in her casting as Wonder Woman.
Gadot will become the first person of Israeli heritage to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, class 2024, according to an announcement made by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce on June 26, 2023.
