Gal Gadot honoured with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Gal Gadot, who found fame with Fast and Furious before transforming into Wonder Woman, is the first Israeli actress to be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Actress Gal Gadot has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first Israeli actress to be granted such an honour.
The ceremony was emceed by Steven Nissen, with Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel and fellow Israeli actress Shira Haas in attendance.
In her speech at the event, Gadot referred to her Israeli roots several times.
“I’m just a girl from Israel,” she said, drawing loud cheers from her supporters in the audience. “To all the young people, especially the young girls, if a girl from Rosh Ha’ayin can get a star on Hollywood Boulevard, anything is possible.”
Gadot also thanked Diesel and Jenkins for their support, telling Diesel, “you took a chance on a complete unknown and invited me to the ‘Fast and Furious’ family, talk about starting big. It was my first movie ever, and your faith in me completely changed the course of my life.”
“We’re always family,” she added.
Speaking to Jenkins, Gadot referred to the director as her “Wonder Woman behind the camera”.
“Going through this journey together, you’ve been a beacon of light and have always guided me with love and compassion. Working with you taught me to trust myself and my powers as an actress,” she said.
The star addressed her Israeli family in Hebrew, saying that she loves them, even though they are far away and told her daughters they inspire her.
“Being your Imma [Hebrew for mother] is the greatest privilege of anything I have ever done. You inspire me to be a better person, to be strong and brave and kind as you are,” she said.
Gadot, who kicked off her international career in the Fast and Furious film franchise, shot to fame as the star of the Wonder Woman films. Her most recent role, starring as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White has also been blanketed in controversy with rumours swirling of a feud between Gadot and her co-star Rachel Zegler, who plays Snow White.
When the film was announced, Zegler promoted it on Twitter, writing “i love you all so much! thank you for the love and for 120m views on our trailer in just 24 hours! what a whirlwind … and always remember, free palestine.”
Gadot’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony comes just days before Snow White is released in theatres around the world (March 20 in Australia) and was delayed for 15 minutes by pro-Palestinian protestors.
Demonstrators held signs that read “Heroes fight like Palestinians” and “Viva viva Palestina”, and scuffled with police. A protestor also stole an Israeli flag.
Gadot was born in Petach Tikvah and has proudly spoken about both sides of her Jewish and Israeli heritage. At the recent Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Never is Now Summit on Antisemitism and Hate, Gadot shared that on her father’s side, she is the eighth generation to be born in the land of Israel.
“My name is Gal…I am a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an actress, I am an Israeli – and I am Jewish,” she said to rousing applause.
“I’m very proud of both sides of my family and they show two sides of Israel. On the one hand, a country that provided a life raft for refugees fleeing the horrors of persecution, pogroms and the Holocaust. On the other hand, the historic homeland of the Jewish people, where our roots run deep and where we are an indigenous people. I am proud to be Israeli and I am proud to be Jewish.”
Acknowledging that she has shied away from talking politics throughout her career, despite skirting controversy due to her IDF service, Gadot said October 7 changed everything.
“I know I’m not the only one in this room when I say that it was a wakeup call,” she said. “And here’s the thing – however much you tried to avoid it before, even if speaking up wasn’t really your thing, none of us can ignore the explosion of Jew-hatred around the world anymore.”
Following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, Gadot took to Instagram to call on followers to stand with Israel. “I stand with Israel you should too. The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!” she wrote. In the weeks immediately following, Gadot used her global platform to advocate for the release of the hostages.
Prior to her Walk of Fame ceremony, Gadot told Variety that she felt compelled to speak up following the attack.
“When people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent. I was shocked by the amount of hate, by the amount of how much people think they know when they actually have no idea, and also by how the media is not fair many times. So I had to speak up.”
“When your compass is clear, your conscience is clean. I know what I’m advocating for, and I know what I wish for the world,” she added.
In her ADL speech, Gadot said she will always be proud of who she is, particularly her Jewish and Israeli heritage.
“That is what I tell my daughters. First, learn to love yourselves, who you are and where you’re from and then the rest will follow. It is time to pass onto our children a love of who they are.
“So who are we? We, the Jewish people, are an ancient people, with an ancient story in an ancient homeland. We are the people that celebrate life. We work to see a better and more peaceful future. We challenge the hate we face but we do it with love, while always striving to make the world a better place.
“And who am I? My name is Gal. And I am Jewish. Am Yisrael Chai.”
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