Gal Gadot came close to giving up acting and returning to her life in Israel before landing her breakout role, she has revealed.
The Israeli star made the comments on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, speaking to host Josh Horowitz ahead of her upcoming film The Runner, which comes out in the UK on September 2.
Despite having already featured in several of the Fast and Furious films, Gadot said that, in the mid-2010s, she felt like she hadn’t made it to where she wanted to be as an actor.
“I [had] reached a point in my career where I had so many ‘almost’ that I wasn’t as big enough of a name,” she told Horowitz.
“I was already a mother and my husband had all of his business in Israel and I told him I'm not really sure if I want to continue chasing this.
“It was too hard. I can deal with challenges [but these challenges] were not up to me. [I thought] ‘all this work and I can’t get anywhere; maybe I'll go back to Israel [and] I'll finish my degree.”
However, her outlook changed when she received a phone call from filmmaker Zack Snyder offering her the role as Wonder Woman, whom she first played in 2016’s Batman vs Superman before headlining her own standalone film, Wonder Woman, the following year and Wonder Woman 1984 in 2020
Gadot recounted the intense emotions she experienced the moment she heard. “I felt dead, then I felt alive... then I flew to the US to do the audition.”
She went on to talk about how when she was young, despite always doing performing arts and dancing and “loving to be the centre of attention”, becoming an actor was never what she imagined for her life.
“I come from a family which is very proper. You finish school, you get a degree, you get a real career. I was on a path to becoming... a lawyer, [studying] political science.
“The universe has its way of showing you the right direction.”
Gadot said that her original career path means she has a special affection for her current character, Maia, a lawyer is dragged into a criminal plot where she is forced to run around London to save her son from a kidnapper.
That, though, is where the similarities between her and endurance athlete Maia end, she joked.
“If there is one thing I hate while I work out, it is running.
“It was shocking to me that I said yes to [the] role, but I'm very happy that I did.”
The high-intensity role meant Gadot hardly wore makeup when filming due to the number of athletic scenes.
But Gadot also revealed that she was almost cast for a very different role as Margot Robbie, who starred in and co-produced 2023’s record-breaking box-office smash Barbie, apparently suggested her to play the role instead.
Indeed, she only found out she had been suggested after the part was ultimately given to Robbie.
“I was busy filming two projects back then, but I'm so humbled and grateful that Margot [thought] about me,” she said.
“I am so grateful that Margot did the role because it was incredible.”
Likewise, she revealed that she auditioned for the role of Furiosa in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, adding that she got as far as a four-hour screen test with Tom Hiddleston, whom she praised as “such an incredible actor,” before the role ultimately went to Charlize Theron.
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