Former Miss Israel and mother-of-two Gal Gadot was catapulted to superstardom last year with the record-breaking success of Wonder Woman. After appearing in the second highest-grossing movie of the year (second only to Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Gadot made another appearance in Justice League (November), securing her place as 2017’s highest-grossing actress and third highest-grossing actor, period.

Considering’s Gadot’s relative Hollywood obscurity prior, these achievements are not to be sniffed at. It only took 70 years to bring Wonder Woman to the big screen – a rare female lead in a world of male superheroes. It’s also been more than 40 years since the character, played by Lynda Carter, appeared on TV.

Whether she intended to or not, Gal Gadot (that’s Ga-dote) has shown the world that women can rise to the top of their careers, be successful mothers and look fabulously fit all at the same time. Getting there was no small feat, though.

Gadot prepared for her first appearance as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman (2016) by training six days a week with horseback riding lessons, martial arts, sword fighting and weightlifting. By the time she shot her first stand-alone, hundred-million dollar movie, she had gained 7.7kg (17lbs) in pure muscle – spurring her husband to hit the gym more just to keep up with her physical prowess.

In Wonder Woman (2017), Gadot plays an Amazonian princess fighting against evil in World War I. Audiences the world over were shocked to learn that she had performed choreographed fights and running scenes while five months’ pregnant with her second child.

Born in Rosh Ha’Ayin, Israel, Gadot studied dance and played several sports in her youth. “I was a dancer for 12 years,” says Gadot, who did ballet, hip-hop, modern and jazz. Standing at 1.78m, she received offers to model throughout her teens. After high school, she was crowned Miss Israel in 2004 and went on to represent her country in the Miss Universe pageant.

“I was 18, and I had some time in between going to the army,” she told W magazine. “My mom figured, ‘Hey, why don’t I send your photo?’ I got in but never thought I would win.” Despite her reservations, the experience paved the way to a career in modelling and exposed her to international travel.

After wrapping up Miss Universe and modelling for some time, she went home to serve two years in the Israeli Defense Forces – a mandatory requirement for all Jewish Israelis, both male and female.

“I wish no country had the need for an army,” she says. “But in Israel serving is part of being an Israeli. You’ve got to give back to the state … It’s not about you. You give your freedom away. You learn discipline and respect.”

After the army, she enrolled in IDC Herzliya College to study law. Her studies were interrupted, though, when a casting director for Quantum of Solace contacted her after seeing her modelling card on her agency’s wall.

“I said, ‘No way am I going to audition to be a Bond girl,'” she says. “‘I’m studying law and international relations. I’m way too serious and smart to be an actress, and besides, the script is all in English.” Her first language is Hebrew.

She pursued the role nonetheless and received multiple callbacks, which required her to split time between Tel Aviv and Los Angeles. “Throughout this process I realised that acting is so much more fun than going to law school!” she says.

While someone else was ultimately cast as James Bond’s love interest, the process got Gadot into acting. She started seeing an acting coach, then landed her first role in an Israeli TV series.

“I had finished my first year in school, and I decided to stop when I got that project,” she says. “Then that same Bond casting director cast me as Gisele in Fast & Furious – my first movie.”

After Gadot’s big screen Hollywood debut in 2009, she was asked to return for the sequels: Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Furious 7 (2015).

“Whenever I met with producers, writers or directors, I said I wanted to portray a strong, independent woman,” says Gadot. “Cut to Wonder Woman.”

Gadot’s big break came when she turned 30, in a move she never imagined as a child growing up in small-town Israel. But before she became Wonder Woman, she had to endure numerous callbacks and screen tests, only to be let down repeatedly.

“It would be a ‘no’, over and over,” she says, recalling being on the brink of quitting. “Then my agent called and said Warner Brothers wanted to audition me for something.”

Zack Snyder, the director of Batman v Superman, finally called and asked her, “Have you ever heard of Wonder Woman?”

“My jaw dropped,” she says. “I tried to sound nonchalant, like, ‘Oh yeah, Wonder Woman, sure.’” It was a whirlwind from that point up until Wonder Woman’s premiere on May 2017 in Hollywood.

“It should have happened a long time ago,” she says. “People are looking for (a superheroine), waiting for one, and I’m so happy and grateful to be the one who is actually doing it.”

At Comic-Con in July 2015, Gal Gadot introduced herself to an enthralled crowd. “I feel like I’ve been given such a huge opportunity to show the strong, beautiful side of women,” she said. “Finally, Wonder Woman is getting the respect of having her own movie!” The room broke out in wild applause.

Beyond the big screen, she is playing another important role: mother of two. She and her husband, Yaron Varsano, are the proud parents of two little girls – Alma, six, and Maya, born last year.

“The Jewish guilt I feel about being a working mom is the hardest thing,” she says. “When Alma was around two, I was really anxious about moving her from one country to the other. It was my husband who told me: ‘Gal, think about what kind of a role model you want to be. If you want to show Alma that she can follow her dreams, that’s what you should do, and we will figure out the logistics.’”

Gadot believes feminism is part of being a woman and mother. “There are such misconceptions as to what a feminist is. Feminism is about equality. I want all people to have the same opportunities and to get the same salaries for the same jobs.

“I realise I’m doing what I want to do because of the women before me who laid the groundwork. Without them I wouldn’t be an educated working mother who is following her dreams. I wouldn’t be here.”

In October 2016, the United Nations invited Gal Gadot and Lynda Carter, the original Wonder Woman, to a special panel. The comic book heroine was named an “honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls”. However, the event was sabotaged by protesters accusing the character of being “overtly sexualised”.

A petition signed by nearly 45,000 people prompted the UN to nix the campaign. Gadot said in response, “When people argue that Wonder Woman should ‘cover up’, I don’t quite get it. They say, ‘If she’s smart and strong, she can’t also be sexy.’ That’s not fair. Why can’t she be all of the above?”

Text: Julienne C. Raboca
Photos: AFP