It's not uncommon for actors and actresses to get out of the business, as they move on to other careers in the industry, like writing or directing, or even get into another industry altogether. However, usually when you hear about someone quitting acting, it's someone who never had a really big break to begin with. Gal Gadot, who has been everywhere since first appearing in the Fast and the Furious movies, not to mention Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently revealed that she very nearly quit acting before landing the Wonder Woman role. Here's what she had to tell Jimmy Fallon in a recent interview:
This profession, the rejection is tough. I had so many almost and another camera test and it was almost mine. Then another and another. I was telling my husband, I'm not sure how long I can take it. Dragging my family to Los Angeles doing this, duh duh duh.
Gal Gadot's story is an honest, yet familiar one. What makes her story different than a lot of other people in Hollywood is that Gadot had seen some success before Wonder Woman. She's famously played Gisele in Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7 and had smaller roles in movies like Knight and Day and Date Night. However, she had never really broken through as a lead in a movie, and she said on The Tonight Show that the heartbreak had really just begun to get to her when a mystery role came up. Yes, it was a mystery.
I always find it fascinating how certain actors and actresses land parts, and the clandestine nature of superhero auditions is extremely wild to hear about. The good news? Gal Gadot elaborated on her secretive audition during her stint on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
I got a phone call from Zack Snyder who wanted to audition me for this secret role. I did the audition. It went great. I went back to Israel to shoot a movie and I didn't know if I wanted to continue acting afterwards. I'm in Israel, they tell me they wanted to do a camera test--again, a camera test, again--another almost, almost. [I asked] 'What am I being tested for? What's the part?' My agent goes, 'They didn't tell you?' Zack calls me and tells me, 'I dunno if you have this character in Israel, if she's big or not, but did you ever hear about Wonder Woman?' [I said] 'Wonder Woman, I'll be there yeah.'
All in all, it seems to be very lucky that Gal Gadot did not give up on her acting career when she was thinking about it. Early buzz for Wonder Woman has been positive, and people have been intrigued by the character since she first appeared in Batman V Superman. Here's hoping this ends up being a gig with longevity, much like how Iron Man, Captain America and more have been long-running characters in the Marvel universe. For now, if you'd like to know what is coming in Wonder Woman with our what we know guide. The movie will be out on June 2.
