The film Cleopatra with Gal Gadot is already controversial

Vivienne Leigh, Monica Bellucci, Marion Cotillard, Elizabeth Taylor… The list of actresses who played the legendary Queen of Egypt Cleopatra in the cinema is almost as legendary as the person they played. In 2025, it is the Israeli Gal Gadot who will appear in the dresses of this legendary woman, under the lens of Kari Skogland (The Borgias, The Handmaid’s Tale). She will be supported by screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis who notably worked on Shutter Island (2010). This project, entitled Cleopatrahas been in the works for almost a decade, and the new adaptation – scheduled for 2025 – of the life of the Queen of Egypt was to be entrusted to the director David Fincherbefore finally being attributed to Patty Jenkins (Monster). Accustomed to projects highlighting powerful women, the director had already called on the 38-year-old actress to step into the shoes of the superheroine Wonder Woman (2017) et Wonder Woman 1984.

Gal Gadot as Cleopatra: a controversial choice

In the end, it is a 100% female trio who will be at the head of this new project: “We want to tell the story of Cleopatra through the eyes of women, in front of and behind the camera”, explained Gal Gadot on her Twitter account. Except that since the name of Gal Gadot circulates, the canvas is divided. Some Internet users believe that the producers should have preferred an Arab or black actress – the queen belonged to the Macedonian dynasty of the Lagides and had African blood, according to a BBC documentary – to play the queen of Egypt on big screen: “What idiot in Hollywood thought it would be a good idea to cast an Israeli actress (who looks very white) to play the role of Cleopatra? Why not favor a magnificent Arab actress like Nadine Njeim?” Recently, a docu-fiction produced by Jada Pinkett-Smith and revealed on Netflixtitled Queen Cleopatrahad chosen to entrust the role of the pharaoh to a black actress: Adele James.

So far, Gal Gadotwhich will soon be showing inAgent Stone sur Netflix, Snow White, Red Notice 2 et Red Notice 3, had remained silent on criticism labeling the cultural appropriation project as “whitewashing”. But she has finally spoken out about the film to underline her excitement, which has remained intact, at playing Cleopatra in the cinema. In the columns of Vogue Hong Kongshe explained: “You know, if Wonder Woman is the ultimate strong woman in fiction, Cleopatra is in reality. This is a perfect example of a story I wanted to tell because I started reading different books about Cleopatra and thought her story was fascinating. […] I can’t wait to share this story with the world and change the myth that Cleopatra is just a seductress. »

Last year, in the magazine InStyleGal Gadot already confided: “I can’t reveal much, but I can tell you that we are going to celebrate the story of Cleopatra. We’re going to show not only how sexy and attractive she was, but how strategic and smart she was, and what impact she had and still has on the world we live in today. » For the actress, this project would even be “the story the world needs to hear right now. »

Cleopatra (Cleopatra) (2023) by Kari Skogland, in cinemas in 2025.