Gal Gadot

Gadot was born in Petah Tikva, Israel to Jewish parents^[6] and grew up in Rosh HaAyin, Israel.^[7] Her family changed their last name from Greenstein to Gadot, a common practice in Israel. For many diaspora Jews who migrated to Israel, taking a Hebrew surname was a way to erase remnants of their diaspora experience and to assimilate into a new shared Jewish identity. In Hebrew, her first name means "wave". Her last name means "riverbanks".^[8] Her parents were born in Israel. Her father Michael Gadot is an engineer. Her mother Irit (née Weiss) is a teacher. Gadot's maternal grandfather Abraham Weiss was a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia. She is descended from Ashkenazi Jews, with ancestry from Europe. As a child, Gadot required speech therapy due to a speech disorder. She was a skilled ballet, hip-hop and modern jazz dancer growing up, as well as a volleyball and tennis player. She was a member of her high school's basketball team. Gadot's first job was at Burger King.

From the age of 20, Gadot served for two years as a soldier of the Israel Defense Forces. Gadot says of her time in the army, "You give two or three years, and it's not about you. You give your freedom away for a while. You learn discipline and respect.” ^[9][10]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gal Gadot.

• Gal Gadot on IMDb

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