By Gill Pringle
“It’s an amazing opportunity to have Wonder Woman in the film,” Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice director, Zack Snyder, told FilmInk on the superhero epic’s set last year. “We haven’t had a female superhero of that magnitude, and it’s an amazing opportunity for the world to get behind an amazing, powerful female character. I’m happy that we have the opportunity to do that. Half of my movies have female leads…maybe that’s because I have so many strong women in my life. I’m not in the least surprised by a strong female superhero. I’m shocked that it hasn’t happened sooner.”
Though one of DC Comics’ top tier characters, Wonder Woman is also one of the publishing house’s most poorly served figures, enduring a history of sub-par writing in print form, and abject neglect on the big screen. That, however, has well and truly changed with the arrival of Israeli-born actress, Gal Gadot (the Fast & Furious films), as Wonder Woman in Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, and her own impending stand-alone film, which is in production right now with a June 2017 release date in place. It’s been a long road getting the crime-fighting Amazon to the big screen, with the likes of George Miller (as part of his failed Justice League movie), Nicholas Winding Refn (Drive), and Joss Whedon (Avengers) all trying to make it happen. “It’s a huge honour to be the one who got chosen to tell this huge, incredible story,” says Gal Gadot at the Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice press conference. “I feel very, very grateful. And never in my life did I imagine that this would happen. I never even planned on being an actress, and I certainly never thought that I’d be playing Wonder Woman. I’m so lucky, and I’m just in love with what I do. It’s all happening now, but I’m kind of in denial. We’ve been working so hard, and it’s been so busy, so I think that it will take me some time to understand what’s really been going on.”
For the little known Israeli actress (who has also appeared in Knight And Day, Triple 9, and Date Night), playing Wonder Woman represents a career bump of staggering proportions, and the actress certainly had to jump through a long series of hoops in order to score the role. “It all began when Warner wanted me to audition for something, but they wouldn’t tell me what,” says Gadot. “So I went along, and Zack was there. That went great, and two weeks later, they asked me to do a camera test with Ben. I said, ‘Great! What’s the role?’ My agent couldn’t tell me, but she said to expect a phone call from Zack. He called me later that night, and he said, ‘I’m not sure if you have it in Israel, but did you ever hear about Wonder Woman?’ I think I literally died for a few seconds and then came back to life, and I tried to pull off my best voice saying, ‘Wonder Woman? Yeah, of course I’ve heard of Wonder Woman.’ Then I did the camera test with Ben, which was great. Then I waited seven weeks, and I went through the seven stages of grief! I got angry…it was terrible! But finally, seven weeks later, they called to tell me that I had the part, and that was it.”
“I knew right away, so I’m sorry about that,” Zack Snyder laughs. Last year on the film’s set, the director walked FilmInk through Gadot’s exhaustive audition process. “We tested a bunch of actresses, as you can imagine,” he said. “I can’t even remember how many actresses we saw in terms of interviews, but for the final test, we tested six actresses. We interviewed and saw hundreds, so it was a pretty exhausting process. But the thing with Gal is that she’s strong, she’s beautiful, and she’s a kind person, which is interesting, but fierce at the same time. It’s that combination of being fierce but kind at the same time that we were looking for. She can get serious, but she’s amazingly fun to be around. And by the way, she really held her own with Ben in the screen test. Ben was like, ‘Whoa, that girl is something else!’ That was a good sign, because Ben is very tough in the scene, and he’s big and commanding. Anytime that you’re doing a test like that and you’re looking at the other person, you’re thinking, ‘Okay, that’s good stuff.’ That was part of the process, and over time as we got to know Gal, we found out how amazing she is.”
Though the reaction to Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice has certainly been mixed (the box office soared initially and then nose-dived, while critics and fan-boys were largely scathing in their appraisals), Gal Gadot has largely been spared, with most lavishing praise on the actress. The first trailer for next year’s Wonder Woman, however, has been met with loud cheers, while the Justice League team-up movie (which sees Wonder Woman and Batman unite with even more DC heroes) footage shown at ComicCon had most breathing a sigh of relief at its introduction of a little levity. The 30-year-old has indeed made a big splash as Wonder Woman: Gadot is fierce, funny, and courageous, finally gifting this comic book legend her due on the big screen. When asked about the initial response to her casting at the film’s press conference, the actress is engagingly down to earth. “You can’t please them all,” Gadot says. “My responsibility is not to pay too much respect to all the noise around me, but to pay attention to the script, and to the director, and to try and protect the character, and tell her story in the best way that I can. I can only do my best.”
The only real decent live action depiction of Wonder Woman has been on the eponymous TV series, which ran from 1975 to 1979. Had Gadot seen it? “I was too young to watch the Lynda Carter TV show,” the actress laughs of the woman who many still see as the iconic superhero. “I was minus 5! But after I was cast in the role, I did watch a couple of episodes. Lynda Carter was a magnificent Wonder Woman, and hers are certainly big shoes to fit into. But when they cast me, Zack had a very clear vision of who Wonder Woman should be, and what her story is, and how to tell it. I just had to embody her and be her. I have a four-year-old daughter, and she loves princesses, but at the same time, she says that princesses are so weak. She just falls asleep, and the prince comes along and kisses her, and he’s the hero. So I’m so happy to be the one who gets to tell the Wonder Woman story. It’s such an important story to be told, and I’m grateful for it. It’s important for girls and boys to have a strong female superhero to look up to. The more the merrier…there’s plenty more room for women to come, and I’m very happy to be a part of that.”
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital now. Wonder Woman will be released on June 2, 2017.
