Gal Gadot wasn’t exactly the go-to choice for Wonder Woman. Sure, she looks the part just fine, but her filmography up until that point wasn’t indicative of a big star on the rise. Sure, she had a pretty good part in the Fast & Furious franchise, but when all said and done, I wouldn’t have said she had “leading lady” potential. Gadot seemed like a model who would best find herself suited in limited side roles that kept her from revealing too many of her acting weaknesses.

Even after her role in Batman v Superman, it wasn’t quite clear that she would have what it takes to take the lead in her own standalone film. It turns out fans weren’t the only one to have real doubts about the casting of Gadot as Wonder Woman. Speaking with Playboy, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins expressed her initial doubt when she found out Zack Snyder had selected Gadot for the part.

“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.”

You can fault Snyder for a lot of things, but he does actually have a knack for spotting acting talent. Up until the release of Wonder Woman, there were plenty of folks still on the fence as to whether or not Gadot will be able to pull it off. Now we know that not only was she serviceable in the superhero role, but that she added a lot of warmth, comedy, and physical gravitas to the character.

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Jenkins continued:

“She shares every quality with Wonder Woman and that’s no joke. It’s one of those rare things. You need someone who can appear to be Wonder Woman on screen. That’s what you’re looking for — someone who can embody all of those attributes on screen. But every once in a while, there’s superhero casting that transcends, because that person is so authentic to the character that it becomes identified with them, like Lynda Carter or Christopher Reeve. It’s even more of a miracle that there was another person as authentic as Lynda in every way to that character. She’s brave, strong, kind, loving, badass—every adjective you can think of for Wonder Woman, Gal is. Lynda and all of the world is like ‘Oh wonderful, carry on,’ because it’s the real thing. It’s a gauntlet pass from one Wonder Woman to another.”

Well, Gadot has picked up said gauntlet all too well. Now audiences are finding themselves more excited about Wonder Woman than they ever thought possible (moreso than many of the other Justice League members), and that can be largely attributed to Gadot herself.

Have you had a chance to check out Wonder Woman yet? If so, do you agree? What did you think of Gal Gadot’s performance? Let us know in the comments down below!

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SOURCE: Playboy (via CinemaBlend)

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