From Warner Bros
“This world is not yet ready for all that you will do.” ~Hippolyta
Prescient words spoken to a young Diana by her wise and worldly mother, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, long before her princess could envision anything like humankind…or the year 1984.
When this film begins, all the preteen Diana really wants is to prove herself to her mother and her aunt, the great Amazon warrior Antiope, and to the rest of Themyscira. Though she is young, her ambition is mighty, and she stands (and runs, climbs, rides and more) against the best in the Amazon Games, a grand display of athleticism like no other. But despite her fearlessness and her impressive abilities, she still has much to discover about what it means to win, and much to learn from her elders.
Another world and another lifetime away, a grown Diana will learn what a true victory looks like, and that she’s the one she must ultimately answer to.
Washington, DC, 1984: Diana Prince is living quietly among mortals and working as an anthropologist and archaeologist, curating ancient artifacts at the Smithsonian. No longer new to the superhero game, she is operating at full strength but keeping a low profile.
“I felt that we did a good job establishing the character in the first movie and telling her coming-of-age story—how Diana became Wonder Woman—and now it was time to explore the character further and how she’s changed since we last saw her,” Gadot says. “Diana has lived in this world for a long time now and she’s not naïve anymore, but she is lonely. It’s difficult for her to let go of the past; she is focused on it through her work and she’s very aware of it in her heart. And though she’s involved in the world around her, she doesn’t really engage. Even as Wonder Woman, she works in the shadows. That was very intriguing for me to play and I was super excited to revisit this character because she is multi-layered and complex and inspiring at the same time, and we’ll see her go through something very profound and relatable in this story.”
Jenkins was not only thrilled to direct Gadot on camera, but to work with her as a producer. “From the beginning, we had a shared point of view for the film and the character and we collaborated a lot,” she states, “but this time she got to be our partner throughout post and to the very end and express her great ideas and great taste on all things related to the film. She sees the big picture as a producer just as clearly as she sees each story beat as an actor.”
Gadot emphasizes that Wonder Woman’s emotional storyline is explored right alongside all the intense and exciting action fans expect from a superhero movie. “The fight scenes are very much a part of her journey and very important to our story, and not just because we love to see her take on the bad guys,” she teases. “We see Diana at her best, this Amazon warrior goddess who can do anything—fight criminals, save civilians and some truly amazing things I can’t reveal yet…I don’t want to spoil anything. But her inner strength also comes into play this time, and so the stakes become much higher than ever before.”
“You look like you saw a ghost.” ~Steve Trevor
In “Wonder Woman 1984,” Diana is reunited with Steve Trevor, the love of her life, whom she’s missed for nearly 70 years. His feelings for Diana are as strong as ever, just as hers are for him, and the sorrow she has lived with vanishes.
Pine reflects, “I was so happy to come back, and this time be the fish out of water, like Gal played in the first film. Now it’s Steve who is someone getting to know a big, wide new universe for the first time. It was fun to play that positivity—the earnest boy in a man’s body—after having been the jaded realist who’d seen the ugly machinations of power and the struggle for dominance and violence that go along with all of that. This time I get to play being in awe of the most magical and also banal things in the world. Like a microwave.”
“When you think about what the world had become from 1918 to 1984,” Roven posits, “and then think about where we are today in terms of technology, it really does boggle the mind in a wonderful way. So, Steve Trevor’s eyes are our eyes in the movie, and besides being an amazing actor, Chris has this incredible sense of humor and the ability to make that sense of wonder very entertaining.”
Pine was pleased to reunite with the filmmakers and, of course, Gadot for another go ‘round. “It was like being home again, going to work with people you really like. And I’ve learned through my history of doing this job that chemistry is a pretty hard thing to fake, so it’s nice when I get to go to work and the chemistry is already there. Gal is a very open being; she exudes warmth and that smile of hers just lights up an entire room. And the best part is we have great fun and we laugh, and that’s what I love about working with both Patty and Gal.”
The actor also appreciates the inner and outer strength of Gadot’s character, noting, “If we’re talking about intelligence and physical prowess and all that, Diana certainly does not need a man or a love interest. So, for her it’s a choice. I mean, falling in love is one of life’s great gifts; isn’t it a wonderful thing in life to have someone to love?”
Unfortunately, their joyful reunion is put on pause thanks to the grave danger the world is in. For Pine, that meant plenty of fight and action sequences, though, admittedly, it’s Wonder
Woman who’s doing most of the heavy lifting (and kicking, throwing…). “I get tumbled around and hit some guys and that’s fun,” he says. “Usually for something like that I’d have to train a bunch and really do a lot of prep work. But it’s poor Gal who had stunt sequence after stunt sequence, was in rigs and thrown all over the place. I just get to do my version of an Indiana Jones thing, which I always love doing.”
“Other than the fact that it’s exhausting, demanding and you have to work out for so long and film for seven and a half months and there’s a lot of work,” Gadot grins, “portraying this character is a joy for me.” In all honesty, though, the actress states, “It’s such a privilege to play this icon who so many fans around the world love, and to do that with Chris again, who is such a great partner, well… We couldn’t do this movie without him! We felt like we couldn’t let go of him, and I was super excited that the writers managed to craft such an original way to bring him back. Just as she helped Steve see the world through new eyes in the first movie, he helps Diana see it differently this time.”
“I love the two of them together—meaning not just Steve and Diana, but Chris and Gal,” Jenkins clarifies. “I love how they work together because they have a very good and interesting dynamic and they are just a delight all the time. The connection you see on the screen is authentic; they are both smart and funny and have so much fun together.”
Pine observes, “Patty and Gal are a really awesome duo. What I love most about Patty is that I can entrust her with being an actor’s director. Like a true actor’s director. Some actors like to come with a fully realized character, and others, like me, prefer to share that responsibility and really collaborate with their director. And she loves doing that. Patty can be talking lighting with Matt [Jensen] and colors with Lindy [Hemming], and then on the spot talk about an acting beat with us in the most specific way, and that I love. That is an art and it is incredibly exhausting and energy consuming, but Patty just seems to be indefatigable. She can do it all.”
In the film, even with Steve back in her life, it will take all that Diana has—all her strength, courage and compassion—to battle her friend-turned-foe, the Cheetah.
“You’ve always had everything, while people like me have had nothing.
Now it’s my turn.” ~Barbara Minerva
Though she mainly keeps to herself, Diana befriends a new colleague at the museum, Barbara Minerva, a character first created in the comics by Len Wein and George Perez. In the film, Barbara is a socially awkward geologist/gemologist (plus a host of other areas of expertise) with a self-deprecating sense of humor. She also appears to be making a study of her
sophisticated new coworker, spurred on in part because she is someone who feels unseen and who, despite her obvious intellect as a multi-hyphenate scientist, functions under a veil of invisibility in her environment. Nobody really pays her any mind, which, in her mind, is due at least in part to her working alongside someone like Diana, who draws all the attention in the room wherever she goes.
Kristen Wiig brings Barbara and the fan-favorite DC Super-Villain the Cheetah—created by Wonder Woman originator William Moulton Marston—to the big screen for the first time. “Barbara Minerva is a woman you sort of pass by, but she’s always wanted to be something more, to have friends, love…” she notes. “Even though she’s very smart, she’s very insecure and doesn’t like herself much, so she tries too hard, which makes matters worse. When she sees Diana and all that Diana seems to be—so beautiful and stylish and confident and strong—she wants that. She wants to be that.”
At first, it’s a two-way street. Wiig affirms, “I think Diana does see something in Barbara that she’s missing in her life: Barbara’s sort of openness and desire to be a part of society, because Diana’s so alone, too. I think they connect over that in a big way.”
Wiig and Gadot also connected right away. “We really hit it off, much to the crew’s dismay,” quips Wiig, “because we were making up songs and singing and laughing all the time. We have a very similar sense of humor and formed an instant bond; Gal is just a great scene partner and friend and I loved working with her.”
Gadot felt the same, offering, “I love Kristen Wiig! She is a super-talented performer, actress, comedienne—you name it. She brings so many colors and layers to Barbara and to Cheetah. The most amazing thing about working with her is her ability to transform; one minute she’s super vulnerable and shy and then, when she plays Cheetah, you look in her eyes and Kristen’s not there anymore, it’s a whole new thing. She’s brilliant.”
“I am a super fan of Kristen’s,” Jenkins adds. “She is so special. Every character she does is grounded in a deep way, even when it has a funny result. I was not at all surprised to learn she started as an actor, not a comedienne, because I could always see how much strength she has in her.”
Barbara’s claws start to come out as she slowly shifts from newfound friend to formidable enemy. Barbara’s very particular transformation is as much on the inside as the outside. As she goes from being more conventionally attractive to being edgier, resulting from the years of internal anger and rage that have built up inside her, she becomes unexpectedly agile and strong. In essence, she goes from victim to survivor to predator.
Wiig says, “Barbara’s transformation is emotional and physical. She starts out very dowdy but then she starts to wear more form-fitting clothes, her hair’s a little different, she’s got makeup on. Then she notices people are noticing her and she really likes it. Her attitude shifts and she starts to become this person she thinks will make her happy.”
Just as she’s finding her feet—in heels—Barbara gets a turbo boost in her confidence from a charming new museum benefactor with an interest in rare gems…
“Anything you want, anything you dream of, you can have it.” ~Maxwell Lord
Someone who will become another powerful adversary for Diana is Maxwell Lord. Originally created for the comics by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire, in the film Lord is the proprietor of Black Gold International but is actually more like a snake oil salesman in expensive sheep’s clothing. His non-stop infomercials promise that “you can have it all,” but really he’s taking it all for himself, and always wanting more.
Pedro Pascal plays the pitchman who, for anyone around in the 1980s, will feel very familiar. “Max is like a Gordon Gekko-type, without the polish, I would say. When Patty and I discussed him, we thought that would be the right look, except he’s not cool, and I thought, well, that’s much better for me!” he laughs.
Lord is first introduced in the film, Pascal relates, “through this quintessential, clunky, unintentionally hilarious infomercial where he’s selling the American dream of wealth by convincing you to call in and give him your money to invest in oil. The problem is, he’s still digging. Of course, he doesn’t reveal that to the public.”
Unlike some of the famed Ponzi schemers of the past, Pascal says that, for Lord, “It’s not intended to be a scam, it’s just that he hasn’t struck oil yet in any of the places he’s looked. Now, he’s become desperate.
“What’s interesting about Max,” he continues, “is that he’s a very familiar guy: divorced, has a kid, doesn’t want his son to see him as a failure and believes the best way to show his son he’s a success is to become powerful and rich and provide him with whatever he dreams of having. It’s a very expensive lifestyle to maintain, but something we can all relate to, I think. How far he will go in terms of proving his worth to himself, the world and, ultimately, his son, is what turns him into what we know as a proper DC villain.”
Though most Super-Villains could be considered reasonably good in a physical altercation, Pascal says, “The thing I love most about Max Lord is that he’s not a fighter—his shirt
doesn’t come off, he doesn’t have any moves or anything like that. So, I got to eat whatever I wanted and always justify it because my character isn’t in shape and doesn’t have fighting skills.”
Not that Max never comes to blows in the film—he does. In fact, at one point in the film, Pascal remembers, “We’re in a hallway in the White House, and here I am trying to stomp on Chris Pine’s feet, and in the other room Kristen Wiig is throwing Gal Gadot up against a pillar and smashing it!”
Pascal had a fair number of scenes with both actresses, Wiig in particular. “I love the relationship between Max Lord and Barbara Minerva. Instead of making him solely a manipulative, power-hungry, single-minded person, it was much more interesting to see him be impressed with her and for them to establish this mutually beneficial relationship, like partners in crime.”
“We probably had more fun than we should have,” adds Wiig. “He’s just the best and we really hit it off. Working with Pedro was so easy and we laughed so much, but at the same time we have some intense scenes and he was really inspiring to watch.”
“Pedro Pascal is an amazing actor,” Jenkins states. “I loved that from the start he played a very different kind of villain, one who does these bad things but comes from a very understandable, relatable place. He would just blow me away on set, there was so much going on in his difficult, complex and impressive performance.”
“One day you will become all that you dream of and more.” ~Hippolyta
For the film’s opening sequence alone—the Amazon Games that take place on Themyscira—Jenkins hand selected 242 actresses, stunt performers, athletes and horse riders from around the world to perform as Amazons who, once cast, went through a rigorous training process. In addition, throughout the movie 38 female stunt performers took part in the many fight and action sequences choreographed by stunt coordinator Rob Inch and his team.
The Games sequence stars Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen, returning in their respective roles as Antiope and Hippolyta, as well as Lilly Aspell, back in the role of Young Diana. Aspell, an accomplished competitive showjumper, was so capable on a horse that when safety or the need for precision demanded the use of a special effects apparatus, she offered to do it without—though, of course, safety won out. For the other aspects of the competition, Aspell trained in wire work and perfected her swimming and log-running skills, though according to Inch she was not quite as fearless at first as she was on horseback. Nonetheless, within 20 minutes of working at it, each new challenge became her favorite.
From a naïve but determined young Amazon princess to the glorious warrior she becomes to the villains she faces down, Jenkins states, “I have compassion for every single character in this movie, for what they’re pursuing because of what they feel is missing in their lives, because I think we can all relate. So often our superheroes don’t have to face moral dilemmas that tie them to the actual story of the film, and I loved the challenge of doing that with Wonder Woman and seeing our own Wonder Woman, Gal, along with our entire cast—Chris, Pedro, Kristen…every single actor we had—play these imperfect characters so authentically. We really feel for and understand everyone’s side of the story when we see ourselves in them, even as we’re watching them do things we only do in movies, like use a lasso to ride a lightning bolt!”
Prescient words spoken to a young Diana by her wise and worldly mother, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, long before her princess could envision anything like humankind…or the year 1984.
When this film begins, all the preteen Diana really wants is to prove herself to her mother and her aunt, the great Amazon warrior Antiope, and to the rest of Themyscira. Though she is young, her ambition is mighty, and she stands (and runs, climbs, rides and more) against the best in the Amazon Games, a grand display of athleticism like no other. But despite her fearlessness and her impressive abilities, she still has much to discover about what it means to win, and much to learn from her elders.
Another world and another lifetime away, a grown Diana will learn what a true victory looks like, and that she’s the one she must ultimately answer to.
Washington, DC, 1984: Diana Prince is living quietly among mortals and working as an anthropologist and archaeologist, curating ancient artifacts at the Smithsonian. No longer new to the superhero game, she is operating at full strength but keeping a low profile.
“I felt that we did a good job establishing the character in the first movie and telling her coming-of-age story—how Diana became Wonder Woman—and now it was time to explore the character further and how she’s changed since we last saw her,” Gadot says. “Diana has lived in this world for a long time now and she’s not naïve anymore, but she is lonely. It’s difficult for her to let go of the past; she is focused on it through her work and she’s very aware of it in her heart. And though she’s involved in the world around her, she doesn’t really engage. Even as Wonder Woman, she works in the shadows. That was very intriguing for me to play and I was super excited to revisit this character because she is multi-layered and complex and inspiring at the same time, and we’ll see her go through something very profound and relatable in this story.”
Jenkins was not only thrilled to direct Gadot on camera, but to work with her as a producer. “From the beginning, we had a shared point of view for the film and the character and we collaborated a lot,” she states, “but this time she got to be our partner throughout post and to the very end and express her great ideas and great taste on all things related to the film. She sees the big picture as a producer just as clearly as she sees each story beat as an actor.”
Gadot emphasizes that Wonder Woman’s emotional storyline is explored right alongside all the intense and exciting action fans expect from a superhero movie. “The fight scenes are very much a part of her journey and very important to our story, and not just because we love to see her take on the bad guys,” she teases. “We see Diana at her best, this Amazon warrior goddess who can do anything—fight criminals, save civilians and some truly amazing things I can’t reveal yet…I don’t want to spoil anything. But her inner strength also comes into play this time, and so the stakes become much higher than ever before.”
“You look like you saw a ghost.” ~Steve Trevor
In “Wonder Woman 1984,” Diana is reunited with Steve Trevor, the love of her life, whom she’s missed for nearly 70 years. His feelings for Diana are as strong as ever, just as hers are for him, and the sorrow she has lived with vanishes.
Pine reflects, “I was so happy to come back, and this time be the fish out of water, like Gal played in the first film. Now it’s Steve who is someone getting to know a big, wide new universe for the first time. It was fun to play that positivity—the earnest boy in a man’s body—after having been the jaded realist who’d seen the ugly machinations of power and the struggle for dominance and violence that go along with all of that. This time I get to play being in awe of the most magical and also banal things in the world. Like a microwave.”
“When you think about what the world had become from 1918 to 1984,” Roven posits, “and then think about where we are today in terms of technology, it really does boggle the mind in a wonderful way. So, Steve Trevor’s eyes are our eyes in the movie, and besides being an amazing actor, Chris has this incredible sense of humor and the ability to make that sense of wonder very entertaining.”
Pine was pleased to reunite with the filmmakers and, of course, Gadot for another go ‘round. “It was like being home again, going to work with people you really like. And I’ve learned through my history of doing this job that chemistry is a pretty hard thing to fake, so it’s nice when I get to go to work and the chemistry is already there. Gal is a very open being; she exudes warmth and that smile of hers just lights up an entire room. And the best part is we have great fun and we laugh, and that’s what I love about working with both Patty and Gal.”
The actor also appreciates the inner and outer strength of Gadot’s character, noting, “If we’re talking about intelligence and physical prowess and all that, Diana certainly does not need a man or a love interest. So, for her it’s a choice. I mean, falling in love is one of life’s great gifts; isn’t it a wonderful thing in life to have someone to love?”
Unfortunately, their joyful reunion is put on pause thanks to the grave danger the world is in. For Pine, that meant plenty of fight and action sequences, though, admittedly, it’s Wonder
Woman who’s doing most of the heavy lifting (and kicking, throwing…). “I get tumbled around and hit some guys and that’s fun,” he says. “Usually for something like that I’d have to train a bunch and really do a lot of prep work. But it’s poor Gal who had stunt sequence after stunt sequence, was in rigs and thrown all over the place. I just get to do my version of an Indiana Jones thing, which I always love doing.”
“I love the two of them together—meaning not just Steve and Diana, but Chris and Gal,” Jenkins clarifies. “I love how they work together because they have a very good and interesting dynamic and they are just a delight all the time. The connection you see on the screen is authentic; they are both smart and funny and have so much fun together.”
Pine observes, “Patty and Gal are a really awesome duo. What I love most about Patty is that I can entrust her with being an actor’s director. Like a true actor’s director. Some actors like to come with a fully realized character, and others, like me, prefer to share that responsibility and really collaborate with their director. And she loves doing that. Patty can be talking lighting with Matt [Jensen] and colors with Lindy [Hemming], and then on the spot talk about an acting beat with us in the most specific way, and that I love. That is an art and it is incredibly exhausting and energy consuming, but Patty just seems to be indefatigable. She can do it all.”
In the film, even with Steve back in her life, it will take all that Diana has—all her strength, courage and compassion—to battle her friend-turned-foe, the Cheetah.
“You’ve always had everything, while people like me have had nothing.
Now it’s my turn.” ~Barbara Minerva
Though she mainly keeps to herself, Diana befriends a new colleague at the museum, Barbara Minerva, a character first created in the comics by Len Wein and George Perez. In the film, Barbara is a socially awkward geologist/gemologist (plus a host of other areas of expertise) with a self-deprecating sense of humor. She also appears to be making a study of her
sophisticated new coworker, spurred on in part because she is someone who feels unseen and who, despite her obvious intellect as a multi-hyphenate scientist, functions under a veil of invisibility in her environment. Nobody really pays her any mind, which, in her mind, is due at least in part to her working alongside someone like Diana, who draws all the attention in the room wherever she goes.
Kristen Wiig brings Barbara and the fan-favorite DC Super-Villain the Cheetah—created by Wonder Woman originator William Moulton Marston—to the big screen for the first time. “Barbara Minerva is a woman you sort of pass by, but she’s always wanted to be something more, to have friends, love…” she notes. “Even though she’s very smart, she’s very insecure and doesn’t like herself much, so she tries too hard, which makes matters worse. When she sees Diana and all that Diana seems to be—so beautiful and stylish and confident and strong—she wants that. She wants to be that.”
At first, it’s a two-way street. Wiig affirms, “I think Diana does see something in Barbara that she’s missing in her life: Barbara’s sort of openness and desire to be a part of society, because Diana’s so alone, too. I think they connect over that in a big way.”
Wiig and Gadot also connected right away. “We really hit it off, much to the crew’s dismay,” quips Wiig, “because we were making up songs and singing and laughing all the time. We have a very similar sense of humor and formed an instant bond; Gal is just a great scene partner and friend and I loved working with her.”
Gadot felt the same, offering, “I love Kristen Wiig! She is a super-talented performer, actress, comedienne—you name it. She brings so many colors and layers to Barbara and to Cheetah. The most amazing thing about working with her is her ability to transform; one minute she’s super vulnerable and shy and then, when she plays Cheetah, you look in her eyes and Kristen’s not there anymore, it’s a whole new thing. She’s brilliant.”
“I am a super fan of Kristen’s,” Jenkins adds. “She is so special. Every character she does is grounded in a deep way, even when it has a funny result. I was not at all surprised to learn she started as an actor, not a comedienne, because I could always see how much strength she has in her.”
Barbara’s claws start to come out as she slowly shifts from newfound friend to formidable enemy. Barbara’s very particular transformation is as much on the inside as the outside. As she goes from being more conventionally attractive to being edgier, resulting from the years of internal anger and rage that have built up inside her, she becomes unexpectedly agile and strong. In essence, she goes from victim to survivor to predator.
Wiig says, “Barbara’s transformation is emotional and physical. She starts out very dowdy but then she starts to wear more form-fitting clothes, her hair’s a little different, she’s got makeup on. Then she notices people are noticing her and she really likes it. Her attitude shifts and she starts to become this person she thinks will make her happy.”
Just as she’s finding her feet—in heels—Barbara gets a turbo boost in her confidence from a charming new museum benefactor with an interest in rare gems…
“Anything you want, anything you dream of, you can have it.” ~Maxwell Lord
Someone who will become another powerful adversary for Diana is Maxwell Lord. Originally created for the comics by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire, in the film Lord is the proprietor of Black Gold International but is actually more like a snake oil salesman in expensive sheep’s clothing. His non-stop infomercials promise that “you can have it all,” but really he’s taking it all for himself, and always wanting more.
Pedro Pascal plays the pitchman who, for anyone around in the 1980s, will feel very familiar. “Max is like a Gordon Gekko-type, without the polish, I would say. When Patty and I discussed him, we thought that would be the right look, except he’s not cool, and I thought, well, that’s much better for me!” he laughs.
Lord is first introduced in the film, Pascal relates, “through this quintessential, clunky, unintentionally hilarious infomercial where he’s selling the American dream of wealth by convincing you to call in and give him your money to invest in oil. The problem is, he’s still digging. Of course, he doesn’t reveal that to the public.”
Unlike some of the famed Ponzi schemers of the past, Pascal says that, for Lord, “It’s not intended to be a scam, it’s just that he hasn’t struck oil yet in any of the places he’s looked. Now, he’s become desperate.
“What’s interesting about Max,” he continues, “is that he’s a very familiar guy: divorced, has a kid, doesn’t want his son to see him as a failure and believes the best way to show his son he’s a success is to become powerful and rich and provide him with whatever he dreams of having. It’s a very expensive lifestyle to maintain, but something we can all relate to, I think. How far he will go in terms of proving his worth to himself, the world and, ultimately, his son, is what turns him into what we know as a proper DC villain.”
Though most Super-Villains could be considered reasonably good in a physical altercation, Pascal says, “The thing I love most about Max Lord is that he’s not a fighter—his shirt
doesn’t come off, he doesn’t have any moves or anything like that. So, I got to eat whatever I wanted and always justify it because my character isn’t in shape and doesn’t have fighting skills.”
Not that Max never comes to blows in the film—he does. In fact, at one point in the film, Pascal remembers, “We’re in a hallway in the White House, and here I am trying to stomp on Chris Pine’s feet, and in the other room Kristen Wiig is throwing Gal Gadot up against a pillar and smashing it!”
Pascal had a fair number of scenes with both actresses, Wiig in particular. “I love the relationship between Max Lord and Barbara Minerva. Instead of making him solely a manipulative, power-hungry, single-minded person, it was much more interesting to see him be impressed with her and for them to establish this mutually beneficial relationship, like partners in crime.”
“We probably had more fun than we should have,” adds Wiig. “He’s just the best and we really hit it off. Working with Pedro was so easy and we laughed so much, but at the same time we have some intense scenes and he was really inspiring to watch.”
“Pedro Pascal is an amazing actor,” Jenkins states. “I loved that from the start he played a very different kind of villain, one who does these bad things but comes from a very understandable, relatable place. He would just blow me away on set, there was so much going on in his difficult, complex and impressive performance.”
“One day you will become all that you dream of and more.” ~Hippolyta
For the film’s opening sequence alone—the Amazon Games that take place on Themyscira—Jenkins hand selected 242 actresses, stunt performers, athletes and horse riders from around the world to perform as Amazons who, once cast, went through a rigorous training process. In addition, throughout the movie 38 female stunt performers took part in the many fight and action sequences choreographed by stunt coordinator Rob Inch and his team.
The Games sequence stars Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen, returning in their respective roles as Antiope and Hippolyta, as well as Lilly Aspell, back in the role of Young Diana. Aspell, an accomplished competitive showjumper, was so capable on a horse that when safety or the need for precision demanded the use of a special effects apparatus, she offered to do it without—though, of course, safety won out. For the other aspects of the competition, Aspell trained in wire work and perfected her swimming and log-running skills, though according to Inch she was not quite as fearless at first as she was on horseback. Nonetheless, within 20 minutes of working at it, each new challenge became her favorite.
From a naïve but determined young Amazon princess to the glorious warrior she becomes to the villains she faces down, Jenkins states, “I have compassion for every single character in this movie, for what they’re pursuing because of what they feel is missing in their lives, because I think we can all relate. So often our superheroes don’t have to face moral dilemmas that tie them to the actual story of the film, and I loved the challenge of doing that with Wonder Woman and seeing our own Wonder Woman, Gal, along with our entire cast—Chris, Pedro, Kristen…every single actor we had—play these imperfect characters so authentically. We really feel for and understand everyone’s side of the story when we see ourselves in them, even as we’re watching them do things we only do in movies, like use a lasso to ride a lightning bolt!”
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