Wonder Womandirector Patty Jenkins admits that she wasn’t initially thrilled with the idea ofGal Gadotplaying the part ofWonder Woman. Many fans echoed the director’s feelings when it was announced that Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. had chosen Gadot, the former Miss Israel 2004. But what was probably not known at the time was that Gadot had served 2 years in the Israeli Defense Forces as a combat instructor, which she says taught her respect and discipline. Many claimed that Gadot didn’t have the acting experience and some argued against her not being from American, which was turned into a point of contention.
Jenkins recently sat down with Playboy to discussWonder Womanand her early thoughts about Gadot taking on the role. Read what Jenkins had to say below.
“I remember when I read in the news that Wonder Woman had been cast and my heart sank. I had been talking to the studio for so long about doing it and I was like well ‘that’s that’. I’m sure we wouldn’t have made the same choice.”
It’s refreshing to see such honesty in a Hollywood director, especially one with such an intense trial by fire with the first real female lead superhero movie. After admitting those premature thoughts, the 45-year old director admitted that she might have overlooked a population outside of the United States. Jenkins went on to admit that she would have settled on an American actress instead of searching the world over for the nextWonder Woman. She explains.
“Frankly, I think they did a better job than I could have because I don’t know that I would have scoured the earth as hard to find her. I don’t know that I would’ve looked internationally. I would have just looked for an American girl.”
Jenkins is very open about her thoughts, but goes on to say this.
“The fact that they found Gal and chose her is a magical gift to me.”
The studio andZack Snyderobviously made the correct choice with Gadot as her performance is rock solid andgaining praise from critics and fansfrom all walks of life. Jenkins went on to share that after seeing Gadot in action that she could not imagine anybody else taking on the role ofWonder Woman, or even coming close to what Gadot was able to do with the character. Gadot was able to bring authenticity and humanity to the super heroine, which had yet to be seen up to this point. Jenkins even revealed that Gadot has some striking similarities with her character. Jenkins goes onto say the following.
“She shares every quality withWonder Womanand that’s no joke. It’s one of those rare things. You need someone who can appear to beWonder Womanon screen. That’s what we’re looking for; someone who can embody all of those attributes on screen.”
Wonder Womanis currently up past $300 million at the worldwide box office, solidifying Jenkins and Gadot’s success. The movie hasbreathed new life into the DCEUand everybody is an agreement that Gadot is theWonder Womanof the current generation, solidifying at least one sequel in addition to theupcoming Justice League movie. Gadot can be seen asWonder Womanagain on November 17th, 2017 whenJustice Leagueopens in theaters.
