You've Been Mispronouncing Gal Gadot's Name Wrong This Whole Time
We see celebrities on the big screen, in magazines, on billboards, and all over social media. However, we are not always sure about how to correctly say their names. In December 2020, E! broke down the pronunciations of some well-known stars' names, such as Ariana Grande (pronounced Gran-Dee), Jake Gyllenhaal (pronounced Yee-Len-Hey-Lo), Charlize Theron (pronounced There-In), Steve Buscemi (pronounced Boo-Sem-Ee), and Amanda Seyfried (pronounced Sigh-Frid).
It's true. We're all guilty of mispronouncing these A-listers' names, and they aren't the only ones! Another celebrity with a commonly mispronounced name is Gal Gadot.
Best known as Wonder Woman, aka Diana Prince in the Justice League and Wonder Woman movies, the Israeli-born actress first garnered notoriety for her portrayal of Gisele in the Fast & Furious films. And she's about to make waves again after landing the leading role in Cleopatra, which is currently in pre-production (via IMDb). Considering her popularity, it's high time we start saying her name properly!
Gal Gadot isn't bothered by the mispronouncing of her name
In a popular video series for Vogue entitled "73 questions," Gal Gadot was asked "Can you please, once and for all, resolve the debate on how to pronounce your last name?" Her answer included a hardened "o" and a definite "t".
As Vox stated, Gadot is Israeli, not French, and most people pronounce her last name as if it had a long "O" and silent "T". Instead, her name should be pronounced with an "AU" sound instead of a long "O," with a noticeable "T" sound at the end. As Vox explains, the "T" sound requires an 'unaspirated' or 'dental' pronunciation. That means by placing your tongue against the back of your front teeth to create the proper "T" sound, like in this video, you avoid, as the outlet describes, the common hard "T" sound like in the word "dot."
When the actress discussed the topic with GQ, she said that, when people speak her name, she is still "probably 60 percent of the time ... Gadoh" and that she "appreciates that everyone is trying their best".