If there's one definitive, unquestionable bright spot in the DCEU right now, it has to be Diana Prince. Gal Gadot's fierce Amazon has turned into an instant sensation among audiences, and the Wonder Woman movie has become a box office smash. The character experienced a long road to achieve this success, and many talented actresses turned down the role before she eventually came to life. One such actress was Kate Beckinsale, and The Only Living Boy in New York actress recently revealed that she turned down Wonder Woman because the version pitched to her didn't resemble the current Diana, saying:
But the incarnations that I was seeing were...They weren't this one [the 2017 film].
That's something that a lot of people tend to forget when they think about the long development of a Wonder Woman movie. The project went through an intense evolution over the years, going through several permutations (even current Justice League and Batgirl director Joss Whedon took a shot at the story at one point) before the DCEU even came into existence. In that regard, Kate Beckinsale didn't necessarily miss out on the role of Diana Prince, because the fan-favorite version of the character created by Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot wasn't the version of the character that the Underworld actress would've played when she had the chance in the mid-2000s.
In that regard, it's hard to imagine that Kate Beckinsale truly missed out on the role of a lifetime. The superhero genre was still coming into its own in the 2000s, and Marvel hadn't even truly cracked the code yet. With female superhero movies like Elektra and Catwoman falling flat, it's probably for the best that Warner Bros. and DC ultimately opted to wait until the genre could convincingly sustain a Wonder Woman franchise. Beyond that, with her work on projects like the Underworld franchise and the Total Recall remake, Beckinsale has pretty firmly established herself as a bonafide action icon --- even without Diana Prince.
Of course, Kate Beckinsale's children also factored into her decision not to play Diana Prince. The actress continued her explanation to Yahoo Movies and explained that she wasn't entirely eager to jump into the role at the risk of potentially embarrassing her kids, saying:
I don't know if I was desperate to be in a leotard. I'd already done the rubber trousers. You have to take in that you have a child at some point and how much could you possibly embarrass them.
You can pick up a digital copy of Diana Prince's first solo adventure on August 29, and the DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K editions of Wonder Woman will hit shelves three weeks later on September 19. For The Amazonian warrior's next adventure, make sure to catch her in Justice League when the DC superhero team assembles in theaters on November 17.
As for Kate Beckinsale, make sure to check her out in The Only Living Boy in New York, which is now in theaters.
