‘Wonder Woman’ Director Wouldn’t Have Cast Gal Gadot, Felt ‘Helpless’ With Zack Snyder’s Choice

Patty Jenkins has admitted that she wouldn’t have cast Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman if she’d had the choice. In fact, she went even further than that and insisted that she felt utterly ‘helpless’ and her ‘heart sank’ when Zack Snyder decided that the Israeli actress was his choice for both Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and the DC Extended Universe.

Clearly, Patty Jenkins was obviously able to get over the casting of Gal Gadot as Diana Prince in Wonder Woman’s first ever origin story, though, as she eventually signed on the dotted line to direct the blockbuster. However, it was a little bit touch and go for a while, though, as she admitted that in the immediate aftermath of Gal Gadot being cast in the film she assumed that she wouldn’t get the chance to direct the film, especially considering that she is still insistent she ‘wouldn’t have made the same choice.’

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.

But now that Wonder Woman has matched its sterling critical reviews, which saw it score 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with a glorious start at the box office, Patty Jenkins has insisted that Zack Snyder and those in control of the DC Extended Universe did a brilliant job by spotting just how perfect Gal Gadot would be as Diana Prince.

Patty Jenkins admitted that she would have looked straight past Gal Gadot, as she would have probably just auditioned American actresses and not even considered international stars.

“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…She’s the greatest.”

Gal Gadot has been roundly praised for her performance as Diana Prince in Wonder Woman, even drawing comparisons to Christopher Reeve’s work as Superman in the 1978 superhero film directed by Richard Donner. Audiences have gone to see Gal Gadot’s origin story as Wonder Woman in their droves, too, as it has so far grossed $100.5 million at the box office over its opening weekend in the United States, as well as a further $122 million internationally, too.

However, even before this success, Patty Jenkins was able to recognize just how impressive Gal Gadot has been as Wonder Woman, as she was quickly convinced of both her talents as an actress and just how well suited she was to the role.

During the same interview with Playboy, via Metro, Patty Jenkins went on to declare that Gal Gadot has ‘every quality’ that is required to do the character of Wonder Woman justice.

She’s brave, strong, kind, loving, badass – every adjective you can think of for Wonder Woman, Gal is.

Following the huge success of Wonder Woman both critically and financially we’re likely to see even more of what Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot can do with the character, especially considering just how poorly received the prior installments to the DC Extended Universe have been. After Man Of Steel amassed a score of just 55% on Rotten Tomatoes back in 2013, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Suicide Squad then failed to improve on that amount in 2016, and instead scored just 27% and 25% on the rating website, respectively. Patty Jenkins has even teased to Entertainment Weekly that she knows exactly what she wants from a potential sequel, too, declaring that she wants to set it in contemporary America.

[Featured Image by Warner Bros]