Tragic Details About Gal Gadot

While she may not be made of Amazonian clay, Gal Gadot is a superhero in her own right. The actor became an overnight sensation after playing one of the biggest archetypal figures in pop culture history in the 2017 movie "Wonder Woman." DC Universe fans' love for the titular Diana Prince reignited when Gadot graced the big screen in her iconic red, blue, and gold armor. However, before joining the Justice League, Gadot was racing cars in a different film franchise.

The actor made her movie debut in the 2009 classic "Fast & Furious," next to the film series' legends Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. And while Gadot has had a stunning transformation since her time in the franchise, it hasn't been all glamorous. The Israel native has been hit with tragedy more than once since her Hollywood start, including an intense health scare and saying goodbye to one of her first movie co-stars.

In November 2013, Hollywood — and the world, for that matter — shed many tears over the death of beloved actor Paul Walker. The "Fast & Furious" star tragically died in a car crash, leaving his fellow "Furious" cast members distraught — they joined the list of actors' lives that were changed forever by the death of a co-star. Gal Gadot was one of the actors who mourned his death on social media. After news of his passing, Gadot took to Facebook to express her grief over the loss.

"Lost a dear friend today," she began. "So sudden and tragic. Hard to believe. Paul was a great man with a big heart and passion for life. I'm so sad he's no longer with us. Can't believe I'm actually writing this." Gadot added a sweet photo of herself and Walker, ending her message with: "I'm sending my condolences to his family and his precious daughter Meadow. Rest in peace brother. We will miss you here."

Gal Gadot's "Fast & Furious" feature was only the beginning of her whirlwind acting career. Her breakout role as Wonder Woman began in 2016 when she appeared as the superhero in "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." A year later, her blockbuster film "Wonder Woman" accumulated a whopping $500 million at the worldwide box office. However, for her role as the titular character, Gadot made a surprisingly low wage of $300,000. It may seem like an eye-watering pay to many, but considering its box office total, Gadot was only paid a fraction of the film's profit.

It wasn't the last time Gadot's Wonder Woman was treated unfairly. Ray Fisher laid bare the reality of working with 2017's "Justice League" director, Joss Whedon, in a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter. During filming, Gadot's career was threatened by the director after the pair clashed on ideas about Gadot's lines in the film. While Fisher didn't speak on that matter specifically, a witness revealed how "Joss was bragging that he's had it out with Gal. He told her he's the writer, and she's going to shut up and say the lines, and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie."

The wrath of Joss Whedon was no match for the force of ridicule Gal Gadot received over her infamous 2020 "Imagine" video. If you don't know what we're talking about, let us catch you up: In March 2020, just days after the U.S. went into lockdown in fear of the ever-worsening COVID-19 pandemic, Gadot posted a video to Instagram, where she and a handful of Hollywood's biggest stars — Pedro Pascal, Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Fallon, and Mark Ruffalo, to name a few — sang John Lennon's 1971 hit "Imagine," in a broken, a cappella style.

What was supposed to evoke an uplifting sense of togetherness in a turbulent time was rather received as tone-deaf, self-serving Hollywood nonsense. The comments on her video may have been worse than the video itself. "Is this actually a Saturday Night Live skit?" one commenter wrote, while another said, "This is one of the worst things to come out of the coronavirus." One comment even brutally suggested that "this video raised the deathtoll [sic]."

In the aftermath, Gadot's comments on her controversial video included a fervent defense, telling Vanity Fair, "I had nothing but good intentions, and it came from the best place, and I just wanted to send light and love to the world." She later changed her position on the matter, telling InStyle in 2022: "It wasn't the right timing, and it wasn't the right thing. It was in poor taste. All pure intentions, but sometimes you don't hit the bull's-eye, right?"

Gal Gadot has shared happy family news with her fans since giving birth to her first daughter in 2011. In March 2024, Gadot gave birth to her fourth child, and while it was a shock to her fans — they didn't know she was pregnant — it was a shocking birth to her, as well. In December 2024, Gadot revealed the terrifying health scare that forced her into an emergency c-section at eight months pregnant. "In February, during my eighth month of pregnancy, I was diagnosed with a massive blood clot in my brain," the actor shared on Instagram. "For weeks, I had endured excruciating headaches that confined me to bed, until I finally underwent an MRI that revealed the terrifying truth."

Gadot recalled her terror on a March 2025 episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show," saying, "It was the first time that I felt what it means to be scared to death." She said that if she was not rushed into an emergency delivery, she wouldn't be alive. Both mother and baby are fully recovered, but Gadot still wants to send a crucial message: "Always advocate for your health. Always."

For her contributions to the film industry, Gal Gadot was honored with a star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2025. What would have been a momentous occasion for the actor was overshadowed by the swarm of protestors on the other side of the street. Signs condemning Gadot's support for Israel were held high, with one even referencing her role as the Evil Queen in the 2025 live-action "Snow White," reading, "Snow White supports genocide."

Gadot has been outspoken about her views on the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel's Gaza Strip, making it clear to her Instagram followers that she supports her home country. While she tries to limit her political opinion to the public, the Israel-Palestine conflict is deeply personal. "I'm not a hater. I'm a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor who came to Israel and established his family from scratch after his entire family was erased in Auschwitz. And on the other side of my family, I'm eighth generation Israeli," she told Variety in March 2025. "I'm an indigenous person of Israel."