Gal Gadot's career has reached new heights: she's smashed box office records as Wonder
Woman, and she's made history for being the first non-American to assume the role.
Here's what Gadot was like before all the fame, and what she had to go through to achieve
the A-list status she holds in Hollywood today.
Wonder girl
Gadot was born and raised in a small town in the center of Israel …
"My hometown."
"Which is?"
"Rosh Ha'ayin!"
She told Rolling Stone in August 2017 that she had a sheltered life in her little Israeli
hometown, saying, "There was no TV-watching.
It was always 'Take a ball and go play.'"
Gadot describes her young self as, quote, "a good girl, a good student, a pleaser" as
well as a tomboy.
Gadot says she and her sister were taught by their parents to be tough, and to believe
in themselves.
In a March 2016 interview with Glamour, she also revealed she was the type of child who
loved to perform and get noticed.
"My mother always tells this story: I was five.
They had a party, and they'd put me to bed.
I heard everyone on the rooftop, and I went upstairs.
No one paid any attention to me, so I took a hose and sprayed everyone … I loved the
attention.
But I never connected all the dots that maybe I should be an actress."
Athlete and Amazon
It wasn't a huge stretch for Gadot to step into a role as physically demanding as Wonder
Woman: she's been an athlete all her life, telling ESPN in May 2017 she played tennis,
basketball, and volleyball as a teen, and danced for more than a decade.
In a July 2015 interview with Vanity Fair, Gadot spoke about her dancing dreams, and
how it almost became her career: "I was a dancer for 12 years — ballet, hip-hop, modern,
jazz.
I thought that I wanted to be a choreographer."
Pageant years
As a teenager, Gadot received offers to work as a model, but instead decided to work at
Burger King, telling Rolling Stone that, at that stage of her life, she didn't like the
idea of posing for money.
However, her fast food career was short lived: after graduating from high school, her mother
decided to apply on her behalf for the Miss Israel beauty pageant.
To her surprise, Gadot was crowned Miss Israel in 2004, when she was just 18.
"(speaking Hebrew)"
She went on to compete in Miss Universe that same year, and didn't even make the top 15
— but that's just what she wanted.
Gadot told People in June 2017 that she really hated being in the competition, and she actually
tried to lose, choosing to go makeup-free on occasion, showing up to events late, and
giving terse responses to the judges ...
"I even remember Paula Abdul, she was one of the judges there, and she was asking me
a question, and I was like, 'I'm sorry, English … not so good."
Warrior training
Like all Israeli citizens, Gal Gadot served her mandatory two years in the Israel Defense
Forces, where she was a combat trainer.
She has spoken about her time in the military on multiple occasions — and was even part
of Maxim magazine's 2007 "Women of the Israeli Army" spread — and she says her experience
helped shape who she is today.
She told Glamour, "I wish no country had the need for an army.
But in Israel serving is part of being an Israeli.
You've got to give back to the state.
You give two or three years, and it's not about you.
You give your freedom away.
You learn discipline and respect."
Breakthrough
Gadot spoke to W magazine in June 2017 about how becoming an actress came as a bit of a
surprise to her.
Her first acting opportunity came about when a casting director asked her to audition for
the role of a "Bond girl" in Quantum of Solace.
Gadot was hesitant to even audition: she was studying law and international relations at
the time, and thought she was, quote, "way too serious and smart to be an actress."
The script was also entirely in English — a first for Gadot, who had previously only acted
on Israeli TV.
Even though Gadot didn't end up getting the part, her connection with the casting director
ultimately landed her a recurring role in the Fast and Furious franchise, thrusting
her into the Hollywood spotlight.
A look ahead
Gadot signed a multi-project deal with DC Comics' parent company Warner Bros, which
means that she'll be appearing in Justice League in 2017, Wonder Woman 2 in 2019, and
Flashpoint in 2020.
If she ever gets a break from filming, she says she may just go back to school to get
a degree — but it's no longer law that interests her.
In a 2015 chat with Interview magazine, she said, "I would love to go back to school and
maybe study film or art history or something more in that direction.
It's not for me to be a lawyer, because I don't like conflict."
"Or maybe not?"
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