Wonder Woman lead Gal Gadot says training for the film was exhausting

Actor Gal Gadot is “super excited” for her upcoming film Wonder Woman. The 32-year-old Israeli actor will be reprising the role of the superhero based on DC comics in the film after she played the role of Diane in Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. In an interview, the Israeli actor opened up about her excitement to do a stand alone film on a female superhero, the exhaustive physical training session and sharing the screen with actors such as Chris Pine. Excerpts:

What was your first memory of Wonder Woman?
When I was growing up, Wonder Woman was a household name, so I always knew of her, even though I wasn’t a big comic book fan at the time.

Audiences loved your scenes as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Did those positive reactions impact your work in Wonder Woman?
At the end of the day, I felt really lucky. I was really, really grateful and happy that the audience enjoyed my Wonder Woman in such a beautiful way. But then, going onto the next movie — to Wonder Woman — I was very focused on making the character the best she could be. Because when you try to please the audience, when you try to please everyone, you leave your own truth. And you can never please everyone. So, for me, it’s better to stick to my truth and work toward what I think is best for the character, the same way I did on Batman v Superman.

What was the most challenging part of your physical training?
The most difficult aspect of the physical training was the accumulated volume of all of it. It wasn’t just going to the gym; each day, I was training in the gym for two hours, then I’d do horseback riding for a few hours, and then return to the gym for another two hours of martial arts training. I would do that six days a week. Honestly, it was exhausting! But after two and a half months, I really started to enjoy it. But kick-starting that level of training, it was tough.

How do those action scenes help shape the character of Wonder Woman?
We always wanted to find the right emotional tone for each action scene. Our director, Patty Jenkins, and I really enjoyed doing that, because every action comes from within, and every action actually has emotion, whether it’s excitement, stress or nervousness. It was very important to fine-tune the underlying emotional tone of each action scene.

What does Chris Pine, who portrays Steve Trevor, bring to the dynamic between you character, Diana, and Steve?
Chris brings the best thing — humour. We had great chemistry and made each other laugh the entire production. He is just a fun guy to work with and to be around. His sense of humour is a big part of Diana and Steve’s relationship.

You also filmed in the UK, where it was sometimes freezing cold. What was it like shooting scenes in your Wonder Woman costume there?
I was cold the entire time, but fortunately I was surrounded with people whose job it was to make sure to keep me warm as much as possible. When we were shooting in the trenches, outside, in the winter, people brought heaters to keep me warm. But many times I forgot how cold I was because I was so focused on my performance and the scene.