Meet Gal Gadot, Our New Wonder Woman

When asked if there was a prophetic moment in her childhood, one that pointed to the empowered women she has played in her accelerating movie career, Gal Gadot, who was born in a suburb of Rosh HaAyin, Israel, says, “I don’t remember this, but my mom told me that when I was three they threw a party on the rooftop of the house. They put me to bed, and I heard people coming into the house and no one came to me. I went to the rooftop and took a hose and I started to spray water on everyone, just to get attention.”

“Gal” (which rhymes with “all”) means “wave,” and “Gadot” means “riverbank,” so the water came naturally. As for attention, all through her teens Gadot received offers to model, which, ironically, did not interest her. “I was a dancer for 12 years—ballet, hip-hop, modern, jazz. I thought that I wanted to be a choreographer.” After she graduated from high school, during the time before she was to start her two years in the Israel Defense Forces, Gadot was asked to enter the competition for Miss Israel.

Thinking it would be an experience she could tell her grandchildren about, she said yes, and then, “extremely surprised,” won. After the service Gadot started law school, but a few months later she was invited to audition for a James Bond film. She didn’t get the part, but she did land the role of the rather Bond Girl-ish Gisele in Fast & Furious, the fourth film in the Vin Diesel series. “It was a very, very big thing for me,” she says. “It was the first movie I’ve ever done and my second project as an actress.”

Gadot’s career took on speed with three more Furious movies and her high-profile casting as Wonder Woman in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The willowy beauty has taken some heat for not being as buxom as the DC Comics character, but she points out that Amazons did not prize large breasts.

Meanwhile, she’s in two upcoming thrillers—Criminal and Triple Nine—and has just been signed as the face of Gucci fragrance. Add to that a family—her “amazing husband, very much woman-friendly,” she attests, and their daughter, Alma, three years old—and “there’s a lot of responsibility,” she says. “I’m very grateful for what I have, but it’s on me to make it right. And I’m happy for it