Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot has teased further details about her upcoming Cleopatra movie, which has already attracted controversy for her casting.
The Red Notice actress is currently developing a biopic movie about the life of Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt's Ptolemaic Kingdom between 51 and 30 BC, who was the last active ruler of the kingdom and whose legacy and image has remained a part of culture to the present day.
Gadot will also star as the famed queen in the movie, which is being directed by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland, and she has now shared a few more details on their incarnation of Cleopatra.
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"I can't reveal a lot, but I can tell you that we're going to celebrate the Cleopatra story," she told InStyle. "We're going to show not just how sexy and appealing she was, but how strategic and smart, and how much impact she had and still has on the world we're living in today.
"I've watched all the Cleopatra movies throughout history, but I feel like we're telling the story the world needs to hear now."
Gadot previously came out to defend her role in the movie following the news of her casting after the project was accused of whitewashing, with many critics arguing that the role of Cleopatra should have gone to an actress of Arab or African heritage.
"First of all if you want to be true to the facts then Cleopatra was Macedonian," she said. "We were looking for a Macedonian actress that could fit Cleopatra. She wasn't there, and I was very passionate about Cleopatra."
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She added: "I want to celebrate the legacy of Cleopatra and honour this amazing historic icon that I admire so much. But anybody can make this movie, and anybody can go ahead and do it. I'm very passionate that I'm going to do my own too."
During the interview, the actress also described the 'Imagine' cover video that she took part in during March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread further around the world, as being in "poor taste", in hindsight.
The video, which featured a host of Hollywood stars singing John Lennon's famous 1971 song, was considered to be rather cringeworthy by many and Gadot has now addressed the more negative reactions to the video.
"[It] was premature," she said. "It wasn't the right timing, and it wasn't the right thing. It was in poor taste. All pure intentions, but sometimes you don't hit the bullseye, right?"
Reporter & Sub-Editor, Digital Spy Susannah is a freelance writer and sub-editor, specialising in the entertainment industry. She graduated in 2014, with a BA in English and American Literature and Creative Writing, and an MA in Creative Producing. She’s been writing for Digital Spy ever since, after first getting involved through work experience, and has written hundreds of stories for the site on a range of topics, from The Sims to Doctor Who. Susannah has also written for Reveal Magazine. Her special interests are soaps (her Mastermind subject would be 2000s Coronation Street), Marvel and Star Wars. She can also quote far too many lines from Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
