When someone is cast as a superhero, a certain amount of criticism is expected. Can we see this actor in the role? Do they look the part? Some are embraced more or less immediately, as was the case with Robert Downey Jr. For others, the debate is far more pitched, only really subsiding when the movie comes out.
DC’s cinematic universe is certainly no stranger to this sort of controversy, as the Twitter response to Ben Affleck‘s casting alone was enough to spawn the #Batfleck hashtag. It hasn’t just been Affleck, though. Newfound Wonder Woman Gal Gadot has also been subject to some frankly excessive criticism from the moment her casting was announced, virtually all of it focused in one way or another on her body.
Gadot has been relatively quiet on the subject until now, but in a recent interview she addresses it directly. While the interviewer first attempted to skirt the issue, Gadot responded rather bluntly, saying “Don’t be shy. They said that I was too skinny and my boobs were too small.” Asked if she was offended, Gadot continued:
“I’m really lucky nothing in my life was instantaneous. When I was younger I would take criticism really hard. But now it mostly amused me. The true Amazons had one boob so it wouldn’t bother them in their archery. So it’s not going to be like real Amazons. We always try to make everyone happy, but we can’t.”
All told, she certainly seems to have a healthy attitude toward it all. But healthy or not, it’s regrettable that she should have to put up with it in the first place. As it stands, her debut film is still a year away from release and Warner has only released a single promotional image of Gadot’s Wonder Woman. While she does look every inch the part in that photo, it’s not much to base an opinion on one way or the other. Ultimately, we simply won’t know how she fares in the role until we have at least some footage from the movie. Until then, we would be better served by remembering that whatever we may think of her appearance, that is just one part of the much larger whole of her performance.
Gal Gadot will make her first appearance as Wonder Woman in the upcoming ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,’ which hits theaters on March 25, 2016. She will then be seen in ‘Wonder Woman,’ the character’s first standalone film, in 2017.
