Gal Gadot-Varsano, born April 30, 1985, is an Israeli actress and model. She was born and raised in Israel. At the age of 18, she was crowned Miss Israel 2004. She then served two years in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat instructor. She began studying at IDC Herzliya college before pursuing modeling and acting full time. Take a look below for 30 more interesting and fun facts about Gal Gadot.

1. Gadot’s first movie role came as Gisele Yashar in The Fast and the Furious film franchise.

2. She went on to achieve wide recognition for portraying Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, starting with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and then the solo movie Wonder Woman and the ensemble Justice League.

3. In 2018, Gadot was included on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

4. Gadot was born in Petah Tikva and raised in its neighboring city of Rosh HaAyin.

5. In Hebrew, her first name means “wave” and her surname means “riverbanks.”

6. Her parents are Irit, a teacher, and Michael Gadot, an engineer. Both of her parents were born in Israel, and they Hebraized their surnames from Greenstein.

7. Her father is a sixth generation Israeli. Her maternal grandparents were born in Europe, her grandfather, who was imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp, survived the Holocaust, and her grandmother left before the Nazi invasion.

8. Gadot has stated that she was brought up in a very Jewish, Israeli family environment.

9. Her high school major was biology. She says that in high school she was good at basketball because of her height.

10. As a teenager, her first jobs were babysitting and working at Burger King.

11. As an adult, Gadot studied law and international relations at the IDC Herzliya college.

12. Gadot said of her time in the Israel Defense Forces: “You give two or three years, and it’s not about you. You learn discipline and respect.” She says that her background helped her to win the role of Gisele in Fast & Furious: “I think the main reason was that the director Justin Lin really liked that I was in the military, and he wanted to use my knowledge of weapons.”

13. She gave birth to her first child at the age of 26, a daughter named Alma Versano in November 2011. The child’s father is her husband, Yaron Versano.

14. Gadot is the first non-American actress to play Wonder Woman.

15. She was close friends with her Fast & Furious co-star Paul Walker.

16. Her husband, Yaron Varsano, with his brother, owned a hotel in the Neve Tzedek district of Tel-Aviv. In April 2015, it was sold for $25 million.

17. She is the first actress to portray Wonder Woman in any live action theatrical movie. Previous actresses only performed the role for television.

18. She was up for the role of Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy, but it ultimately went to Karen Gillan.

19. She was offered to portray Faora in Man of Steel, but turned it down due to her pregnancy at the time. The role was passed to Antje Traue.

20. Gadot starred with both brothers Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck in two movies released in 2016: Tripe 9 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

21. Unlike the 1970s television series, Gadot’s depiction of Diana Prince transforming into Wonder Woman doesn’t involve a ballerina style spin. The transformation alternates like Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of Clark Kent becoming Superman.

22. She gave birth to her second child at age 31, a daughter named Maya Versano in March 2017. The child’s father is her husband, Yaron Versano.

23. Gadot starred in Criminal with Kevin Costner. The first day she and Costner met, they filmed a scene in which he was to tie her up and wrap her mouth with tape as a gag. In the scene of the movie, Gadot is tied to her bed and gagged by Costner while he searcher her house.

24. After deciding to turn to acting, her very first audition was for the role of Camille in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko ultimately won the part.

25. She had never eaten a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup until she tried it on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

26. Gadot has led international campaigns as a model for Miss Sixty, Huawei smartphones, Captain Morgan rum, Gucci fragrances, Vine Vera skincare ranges, and Jaguar Cars.

27. In 2015, she became the face of Gucci’s Bamboo perfume brand.

28. She has featured as the covergirl on Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Bride Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, UMM, Cleo, Fashion, Lucire, and FHM.

29. In 2007, 21 year old Gadot was in the Maxim photo shoot, Women of the IDF, and was then featured on the cover of the New York Post.

30. Gadot, fellow Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter, DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and U.S. Under-Secretary General Cristina Gallach appeared at the United Nations on October 21, 2016, the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Wonder Woman, to mark the character’s designation by the United Nations as its Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls.