It's rare to see a superhero actor or actress immediately fit perfectly into a role. Plenty of performers eventually grow into their characters (like Chris Evans did with Captain America) but for someone to instantly inhabit his or her comic book counterpart is truly something to behold. Luckily for Wonder Woman, that's what happened with Gal Gadot and her portrayal of Diana Prince. Despite Gadot's fit for the part, Patty Jenkins recently opened up and admitted that she likely wouldn't have cast the Israeli star because she wouldn't have thought to cast a non-American for the role. Jenkins explained:
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. And then I started paying attention to her, and watching her and looking at her and it was just unbelievable. 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. The fact that they found Gal and chose her is a magical gift to me.
It's not hard to understand why Patty Jenkins would maintain this mindset if she had been allowed to cast Wonder Woman. Although Diana Prince is not literally an American character, her core values and the ideas that she stands for feel distinctly American. The easy option would've been to cast an established actress from the United States and go from there, but getting stuck with Gadot after her stint in Dawn of Justice turned out to be the best decision for Jenkins and Wonder Woman in the long run.
Oddly enough, the Wonder Woman star almost didn't get the part that would turn her into a household name, as Gal Gadot famously almost entered the DC Extended Universe much sooner than Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. She was initially offered the role of Faora in Man of Steel but subsequently had to turn the job down because she was pregnant at the time. As a result, the role of Faora eventually went to German actress Antje Traue -- who ultimately did a phenomenal job with the part.
In this regard, the casting of Gal Gadot as Diana is an area where Zack Snyder deserves quite a bit of credit. Casting the Israeli actress as Diana Prince in Batman V Superman was ultimately his call, and Patty Jenkins "inherited" the actress when production on Wonder Woman commenced. Despite the lack of control, it seems that Jenkins wouldn't have done it any other way in retrospect, as her comments to Playboy make it clear that she only has great things to say about Gadot -- even drawing comparisons between the new Diana Prince and DC icons like Lynda Carter and Christopher Reeve.
Wonder Woman is now in theaters; if you haven't already, make sure to check it out! Gal Gadot's Diana Prince will make her next appearance in the DCEU when Justice League debuts on November 17, 2017. Here's everything that we currently know about all of the most highly anticipated upcoming DC films.
