'Wonder Woman' news: Gal Gadot shares thoughts on her character being dismissed as U.N. honorary ambassador
Last week, the United Nations cut ties with Wonder Woman as the group's honorary ambassador for women and children after the choice met a backlash. A petition online garnered about 45,000 signs citing that it is quite difficult to relate to a comic book character let alone consider her the epitome of feminism. This time, Gal Gadot, the actress who is bringing the Amazonian warrior to life in its very first big screen iteration is fighting back her and her character's harshest critics.
"There are so many horrible things that are going on in the world, and this is what you're protesting, seriously," she candidly asked on a recent extensive interview as part of "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins' profile for TIME magazine. "When people argue that Wonder Woman should 'cover up,' I don't quite get it. They say, 'If she's smart and strong, she can't also be sexy.' That's not fair. Why can't she be all of the above?"
Gadot hopes that her point will be more effectively delivered when her character's origin movies hit the theaters early next year in which fans can find out how Diana Prince got tangled up with the World War 1. But most importantly, she wants to squash social connotations that being soft means someone is weak which is how women are perceived at times.
"We knew it was tricky. We wanted to find the balance between portraying her as confident and strong and feminine and warm," the 31-year-old soon-to-be-mom of two said. "I didn't want her to be a ball buster. I didn't want her to be bossy. You can be powerful and also loving."
The Israeli actress has previously debuted the DC Comics character earlier this year in "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" with Ben Affleck as the new iteration of Bruce Wayne and Henry Cavill reprising his role as Clark Kent. The film was met with mixed reviews both from fans and critics, but in the limited time that Gadot appeared, she shined.
"Wonder Woman" will be out on June 2, 2017 as part of the DC Extended Universe.
