Gal Gadot will be first Israeli actress to get Hollywood star

(JTA) — Israeli actress Gal Gadot, best known for her role as Wonder Woman in the eponymous 2017 film and franchise, will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year, joining the more than 2,700 members of the entertainment industry who have been immortalized with a Hollywood star.

Gadot will be the first Israeli actress to receive a star on the Walk of Fame. Haim Saban, the Israeli media mogul, creator of the “Power Rangers” TV show and major Democratic donor, received a star in 2017.

Other Jewish figures awarded stars for 2024 include actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal; writer, director and actor Michael Schur, who is best known for creating or co-creating the sitcoms “Parks and Recreation,” “The Office,” and “The Good Place”; actor Eugene Levy, most recently known for starring on “Schitt’s Creek”; and composer Charles Fox, who wrote dozens of television theme songs and film scores and is known for writing the music to “Killing Me Softly With His Song” before it was covered by Roberta Flack.

Gadot, who served in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat fitness instructor, has proudly discussed her Israeli and Jewish identity in public. While hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2017, her monologue included a Hebrew bit that referenced how Israelis eat hummus. Her maternal grandfather was a Holocaust survivor and her father is a sixth generation Israeli. She has said that she recites the “modeh ani” prayer in the morning, has spoken out against antisemitism and has shared photos of her family celebrating Jewish holidays on her social media.

Gadot is set to star as Cleopatra in an upcoming Paramount+ film and will play the Evil Queen in Disney’s live action “Snow White” film, coming out in 2024.