Gal Gadot is finally making her way to television, but the Wonder Woman star's new show isn't heading to Showtime as expected. Instead, her series based on the life of a famed actress is coming to a streaming service. Gadot will arrive on Apple TV+ to play the "most beautiful woman in the world," a.k.a. Hedy Lamarr.
Apple has given a straight-to-series order for a limited series called Hedy Lamarr, which will run for eight episodes. Gal Gadot is on board as both star and executive producer, with Sarah Treem of The Affair and House of Cards writing and executive producing as well. Gadot has been attached to a Hedy Lamarr series since summer 2018, and the project was still headed to Showtime as recently as summer 2019, with a writers room opening and researchers preparing to dig into the life and times of Hedy Lamarr.
The Apple TV+ historical drama will shed light on Hedy Lamarr as both a movie star and the genius whose achievements in technology weren't fully appreciated back in the day.
Hedy Lamarr was known as the "most beautiful woman in the world" due to her life as a Hollywood glamour girl, but she didn't get off to the most glamorous start. She escaped from Vienna before World War II in time to rise to the top of the Golden Age of Hollywood while also using her brilliant mind to invent. In fact, one of her inventions created the basis for some spectrum technology still used today.
Tragically, Hedy Lamarr's glory days in the limelight didn't last, and she fell into public disgrace ahead of the Cold War. The show will tell the tale of Lamarr as an immigrant woman ahead of her time who nevertheless fell a victim to her time. The name "Hedy Lamarr" may not be the most famous to come out of the history of the Golden Age of Hollywood, but Gal Gadot's Apple TV+ series may help shed light on a woman whose accomplishments had been largely forgotten or overlooked.
Given that Hedy Lamarr will be a limited series, it's likely that the show will tell Hedy Lamarr's full story within the span of eight episodes. Assuming the Apple TV+ project follows Lamarr through her rise and fall, it should be interesting to see how Gal Gadot tackles the role and whether other actresses play the character in her much younger or much older years.
Although Apple TV+ didn't make quite as much of a splash in the streaming game as Disney+ when both new platforms launched back in November 2019, Hedy Lamarr could help raise the streamer's profile. Apple TV+ did already recruit big names for original shows, including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon for The Morning Show, Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul (among others) for Truth Be Told, and Captain America star Chris Evans for Defending Jacob. With Wonder Woman's Gal Gadot on board with Hedy Lamarr, perhaps Apple TV+ will continue to grow.
Unfortunately, Apple didn't announce when to expect Gal Gadot's Hedy Lamarr to premiere, but the streamer does have plenty of options available for $4.99/month already. For some non-streaming options now and in the not-too-distant future, be sure to check out our 2020 summer TV premiere schedule.
