Every man dreams of spending his life with a woman who solves problems, who doesn’t create new ones, and who can deal with those problems with a firm hand when they do come her way. Who wouldn’t want a friend like that, someone who knows what to do, in every situation? Well, the news is, a woman like that exists… But who are we talking about, you ask? Wonder Woman, of course! About Gal Gadot to be precise, who plays Wonder Woman in the film that will be released next week.
Gal was born in Israel in 1985, from Jewish Israeli parents with a very painful history. Her grandparents experienced war in Europe and were Holocaust survivors. This was very important to Gal growing up, and left a mark on her, making her into a very thoughtful, intense girl.
Gadot’s career started at only 19, when she won the title of Miss Israel pretty effortlessly, thanks to her evident beauty. Right after that, she participated in the Miss Universe contest, as all national beauty contest winners usually do. Gal, 32 years old, soon realized that she didn’t want to be a model, and joined the Israeli Defence Force after her beauty contest experience: she was quickly promoted to the rank of combat instructor — who else could impersonate the great warrior better than her, then? Despite her choosing to take time off from the show business, she still caught the eye of the industry, and in 2007 she was featured in Maxim‘s famous photo reportage “Women of the Israeli army”: her portrait would land on the cover of the New York Post shortly after that.
After her time in service, Gal showed an interest in the film industry. The Fast and Furious saga worked as her springboard, as she played the main character in parts 4, 5 and 6. Critics started appreciating her and loving her not only for her looks, but also for her acting skills. Gadot is also part of the cast of some widely appreciated TV shows, such as Entourage and The Beautiful Life.
Her interpretation of Wonder Woman, which the entire world is expecting so eagerly, might also be the most important role in her career so far, and it perfectly matches her professional ambitions, since she declared in an interview a few years ago that there aren’t enough roles in cinema for strong women, and that most of the female characters we see in films today seem to match the damsel-in-distress stereotype. Well said, Gal! We can’t wait for you to show everyone that there is so much more to cinema for women, too!
