Gal Gadot thanked her Fast and Furious co-star Vin Diesel for taking a chance “on a complete unknown” during her speech on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

The Israeli actress made her movie debut in the fourth Fast and Furious movie in 2009 and reprised the role of Gisele Yashar for the following two films in 2011 and 2013.

Gadot, who made a cameo as Gisele in the most recent outing Fast X, thanked the franchise’s star and producer Diesel for changing her life as she unveiled her star on the Walk of Fame.

“You took a chance on a complete unknown and invited me to the Fast and the Furious family,” she said in her speech. “I mean, talk about starting big… It was my first movie ever and your faith in me completely changed the course of my life. Thank you so much for your trust, thank you for showing up, thank you for your love. I love you, and we’re always family.”

Earlier in the ceremony, Diesel took to the podium and recalled a conversation he had with his wife Paloma when he had to choose Gisele out of eight actresses.

“(I said to her,) ‘I’m liking this person (Gadot). Nobody’s ever heard of her but she evokes this magic that is this beautiful dance of strength and empathy that we as creatives look for in a star,'” he remembered. “I said, ‘The studio’s killing me, I need to pick a Gisele by tonight’ and Paloma said, ‘(Pointing at Gadot), That’s your Gisele.’ The next thing you know she was flying to LA and we screen test and the rest was history.”

Diesel added that one of the best accomplishments in his career was “taking a chance on an unknown actress who had strength and empathy so beautifully wound together”.

During the ceremony, which was disrupted by pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protesters, Gadot was also supported by her Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, her husband Jaron Varsano and their four children.

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