FALLOUT

Gal Gadot Announces Cleopatra Role, Drawing Complaints of Miscasting

Some said a Black actress should have been cast instead of the white Israeli star, who shared her upcoming project with Patty Jenkins on Sunday.

Israeli actor Gal Gadot will play Cleopatra, teaming up again with Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins in a Paramount Pictures deal confirmed by Deadline on Sunday morning. When Gadot retweeted the announcement and expressed her excitement about the role, several Twitter users took her to task for taking the role they said should go to an African or Greek actress, generating hundreds of scattershot replies. “It’s a shame you aren’t advocating for African actresses who would better fit the part. Please do better,” wrote one user. Others argued about Cleopatra’s ancestry, which some consider to be Macedonian Greek, and whether Gadot could or should play Cleopatra. Last year, when a Sony Cleopatra remake was only a possibility, The Independent’s Biba Kang argued that the historical accuracy of Cleopatra’s race doesn’t matter amid calls to diversify casting in Hollywood.