“Wonder Woman” and “Fast Five” actress Gal Gadot continues to move forward with the long-gestating “Cleopatra” movie she’s been attached to for several years.
The project was originally slated to be helmed by Gadot’s “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins, but she has since dropped out and been replaced by “The Falcon and the Winter Solider” director Kari Skogland.
The casting sparked controversy as Gadot is an Israeli actor playing a mixed-race Egyptian queen, with comparisons to casting Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s expensive 1963 epic.
In a recent interview with Vogue Hong Kong, Gadot promises the film will “change the narrative” around the historical figure:
“Israel borders Egypt, and I grew up with so many stories about Cleopatra, and she’s like a household name. You know, if Wonder Woman is the imaginary strong woman, Cleopatra is actually the real one.
It’s a perfect example of a story I wanted to tell because I started reading different books about Cleopatra, and I was like, “Wow, that’s fascinating. All I ever saw about Cleopatra in the movie was that she was this attractive woman who had an affair with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. But the truth is that it has so much more to offer.
This woman was so ahead of her time. Egypt and what Egypt was then was still futuristic compared to what we are today. I can’t say much. But for me, I’m so passionate about telling her story and doing justice to this character and her legacy and celebrating her and her legacy. We have a beautiful storyline, and I can’t wait to share this story with the world and change the Cleopatra narrative by simply being a seducer.
This lines up with comments Gadot told InStyle last year, saying the film aims to show not only how sexy she was, but also how strategic and smart she was and the impact she “has. about the world we live in today”.
The film “Cleopatra” does not yet have a production start date. Gadot will next be seen in the Netflix action thriller “Heart of Stone.”