As a mother of two girls, leading star of Wonder Woman, and Miss Israel 2004, we have a feeling actress Gal Gadot knows a thing or two when it comes to womanhood.
However, from the sounds of the 32-year-old’s recent interview with magazine, nabbing her superhero role as the DC comic character was a pretty tough task.
When Gadot was revealed to be playing the famous comic book character, several naysayers claimed that it was wrong that an Israeli woman was leading the film, which was subsequently banned in several Arab countries for that reason alone.
‘Oh, my God, seriously, you guys?’ was her response to the backlash, before fans began criticising the fact she wasn’t as ‘busty’ as the character’s depiction in comic books.
Instagram: @gal_gadot
Using the age-old argument that the Amazonians would have cauterised their right breasts in order to have better bow control, Gadot said: ‘I told them, “Listen, if you want to be for real, then the Amazons, they had only one boob. Exactly one boob. So what are you talking about here? Me having small boobs and small ass? That will make all the difference”.’
Leading a female-focussed superhero film that ultimately beat Deadpool in the box office was a major responsibility for Gadot – who was waking at 5am with her four-month-old and pregnant during filming – and one she doesn’t take lightly.
‘People always ask me, “Are you a feminist?” And I find the question surprising, because I think, “Yes, of course. Every woman, every man, everyone should be a feminist. Because whoever is not a feminist is a sexist”,’ she explained.
I mean, could we love her any more?
Instagram: @gal_gadot
Discussing her pregnancy during filming, Gadot admits she was shooting 12-hour days, six days a week, in nothing more than a leotard but that she found the experience more funny than tiring.
‘We cut open the costume and had this green screen on my stomach,’ she recalls one day during filming. ‘It was funny as hell – Wonder Woman with a bump.’
EVERY WOMAN, EVERY MAN, EVERYONE SHOULD BE A FEMINIST.
Her pregnancy, however, was something she decided to keep close to her chest until the time came when she had to tell her co-stars.
‘I didn’t want attention,’ the actress admits. ‘The default should be that women get the job done, but there’s a long way to go and a lot of reprogramming that needs to be done to both genders.’
During the interview, she also opened up about moments in life when she’s felt undermined as a woman by men.
Instagram: @gal_gadot
‘I’ve had my moments where I’ve felt like men were misbehaving – nothing sexual, but inappropriate in a sexist way. Dismissive. Life wasn’t always rosy and peachy for me as a woman in the world,’ she says.
IT WAS FUNNY AS HELL – WONDER WOMAN WITH A BUMP
Redefining Wonder Woman for a modern audience, the former law-graduate admits she and director Patty Jenkins were almost obsessed with nailing the perfect adaptation of the comic book for viewers.
Instagram: @gal_gadot
‘It was almost emotional, because we were so united in our desire to make something so delightful that people didn’t mind also talking about this deeper issue,’ she reveals.
‘Strength is not something you can fake’.
‘I didn’t want to play the cold-hearted warrior. We didn’t want to fall into the clichés,’ she adds.
LIFE WASN’T ALWAYS ROSY AND PEACHY FOR ME AS A WOMAN IN THE WORLD
‘We didn’t want to treat the misogyny in a preaching way. We wanted to surprise the audience.
Well, surprise they certainly did.
Does body shaming begin at home?
From: ELLE UK
