Gal Gadot Q&A / Wonder Woman 1984
A former fitness trainer for Israeli combat troops, Gal Gadot has always been a very physically imposing woman. Apart from her two year army stint, she found time to become Miss Israel in 2004 and embark on a modelling career that would eventually take her to Hollywood. And after the Fast and Furious films gave her a major foothold in the business she landed the title role in 2017’s Wonder Woman. The summer blockbuster turned out to be a smash success with both critics and fans alike, earning over $800 million at the box office and establishing Gadot as the head of a major new film franchise.
Fast forward to the present and we find the tall (5’10”), lithe actress is about to return to her Amazon self in WONDER WOMAN 1984, directed by Patty Jenkins. Set for worldwide release on October 2nd (postponed from the original June release date due to the coronavirus pandemic), the film explores how the immortal Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman has moved beyond the horrific events of the original movie which was set during WWI. We are now in the year 1984 and Diana is working at a natural history museum when she is confronted by two new villains – Cheetah (Kristen Wiig. who also plays Diana’s friend Barbara Minerva), and Max Lord (Pedro Pascal), a wealthy infomercial guru.
When it comes to Gadot’s thoughts about this new chapter in the life of Wonder Woman, she is distinctly upbeat: “I’m super excited about the movie and I’m very proud of it and I can’t wait for everyone to see it…This film is a whole new journey for Wonder Woman. And I hope and think that it’s going to have a profound effect on people because the movie is very universal.”
With respect to the enormous success of the 2017 film, Gadot believes that audiences were happy with the way Wonder Woman, as a powerful female character, was presented and how her story was told:
“People were waiting for a female-driven story in such an authentic way,” Gadot said. “It’s funny to say the word ‘authentic,’ because she’s a superhero, but we were telling the story from a female perspective and we made sure the story was universal. For men, women, boys, girls, everyone. She wasn’t this tough, bad-ass woman who had it all figured out. She had fears and worries, and we enjoyed exploring her imperfections and vulnerabilities. Those are the things that are truthful in humankind. We were able to make the character grounded this way and be accessible and approachable…”