“Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot will be recognized by the Palm Springs Film Festival with its Rising Star Award. Gadot will receive the award at the fest’s awards gala on Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
The fest runs Jan. 4-15.
“Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman showed us a strong, capable, poised, curious and compassionate character, and her performance has been universally praised, resonating with audiences everywhere. Gal plays the immortal warrior so well, and the film’s themes are especially apt for today, empowering all types of people — women and men, young and old—the world over,” said festival chairman Harold Matzner.
In the past, the Rising Star Award has gone to Ruth Negga, Alicia Vikander, Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick and Dakota Fanning.
Directed by Patty Jenkins, “Wonder Woman” became the highest-grossing film helmed by a woman, as well as having the largest opening for a female-led comic-based film. It grossed more than $820 million worldwide.
It has also become part of the awards conversation, a rarity for a comic book film.
Israeli-born Gadot was crowned Miss Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces before making her film debut in “Fast & Furious,” in which she performed her own stunts. She also appeared in “Date Night,” “Knight and Day,” “Triple 9,” “Criminal,” and “Keeping Up With the Joneses.”
She will return as Wonder Woman in “Justice League,” opening Nov. 17.
