Watch Gal Gadot Surprise a College Student With the First Ever 'Wonder Woman' Scholarship
Wonder Woman’s superpowers go beyond fighting bad guys. At the 2017 Women in Entertainment breakfast hosted by The Hollywood Reporter and presented by FIJI Water, Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot presented one lucky college freshman, Carla, with a four-year full-ride scholarship, paid for by Warner Bros., the studio behind the feminist blockbuster.
“She’s strong-minded, opinionated and gutsy. She wants to be a screenwriter, and she’s already impressed everyone who knows her—her fellow mentees, her professors, and everyone in this room who’s met her,” Gal said in a speech before bestowing the scholarship to the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles student. “She won’t be able to continue at LMU without this funding. Similar to many other great young women in this program, her education is hanging by a thread.”
The scholarship was a complete surprise to its recipient, who accepted it at the event’s podium by saying, “I knew something was up! Y’all are sneaky.” In her speech she thanked her mentors and her parents and said, “All I can think about right now are how many papers I have to write for my finals, and now I have to do it because of this!”
Gal seemed just as excited to give the award as Carla was to receive it; she posted a picture from the event to Instagram with the caption, “It was such an honor to be able present the first ever Wonder Woman scholarship yesterday to this WONDERful woman, Carla at the THR Women In Entertainment Event.”
“I’ve had the privilege of portraying a superhero onscreen, but the young women here today are the real superheroes…They’ve overcome so many challenges in their lives, and they’re driven to do more. They’re the true leaders of tomorrow,” the actress said in her speech, per The Hollywood Reporter. Gal herself knows the benefit of a good education; she was in law school when she first decided to try acting.
This is the first year that a Wonder Woman scholarship has been awarded, but we certainly hope that as female-fronted superhero movies become more popular, so too do educational opportunities for young women.
Watch the full video here:
PHOTO: Rich Fury/Getty Images
Related: Gal Gadot’s Daughter Is Not Impressed That Her Mom Is Wonder Woman