Gal Gadot will not apologize to the woke-scolds criticizing her casting as Cleopatra in the upcoming biopic.
This past October, when Gadot was announced as the actress who would play the ancient Egyptian leader, woke leftists charged that the role should have gone to an actual African or Arabic actress.
“Which Hollywood dumba** thought it would be a good idea to cast an Israeli actress as Cleopatra (a very bland looking one) instead of a stunning Arab actress like Nadine Njeim?” asked journalist Sameera Khan. “And shame on you, Gal Gadot. Your country steals Arab land & you’re stealing their movie roles… [shaking my head].”
“Cleopatra was part Greek and part Berber. That’s what we know for sure. Scholars have been debating this topic for centuries now,” she later clarified.
“Whatever you think of her being cast as Cleopatra, never forget that Gal Gadot proudly served (and continues to support) a colonial army notorious for maiming and murdering civilians,” said author and public speaker Steven Salaita. “Not only is she responsible for participating in war crimes and whitewashing the army that committed them; she also should have her wealth seized and distributed to Palestinian refugees.”
Speaking with BBC Arabic, Gadot noted that Cleopatra was neither African nor Arab, but rather Macedonian Greek.
“First of all, if you want to be true to the facts, then Cleopatra was Macedonian,” Gadot said. “We were looking for a Macedonian actress that could fit Cleopatra. She wasn’t there. And I was very passionate about Cleopatra.”
“I have friends from across the globe, whether they’re Muslims or Christian or Catholic or atheist or Buddhist, or Jewish, of course… People are people. And with me, I want to celebrate the legacy of Cleopatra and honor this amazing historic icon that I admire so much,” she added.
Fox News chronicled some of the debate surrounding Cleopatra’s actual ethnicity, which has never been officially clarified.
In 2008, Egyptologist Sally Ann Ashton from the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge told the Daily Mail, “She probably wasn’t just completely European. You’ve got to remember that her family had actually lived in Egypt for 300 years by the time she came to power.”
In 2020, Kathryn Bard, professor of Archaeology and Classical Studies at Boston University, told Newsweek, “Cleopatra VII was white – of Macedonian descent, as were all of the Ptolemy rulers, who lived in Egypt.”
When announcing her role in the upcoming film this past October, Gadot said she looked forward to bringing such an iconic woman’s story to life through a woman’s eyes.
“As you might have heard, I teamed up with @PattyJenks and @LKalogridis to bring the story of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, to the big screen in a way she’s never been seen before. To tell her story for the first time through women’s eyes, both behind and in front of the camera,” Gadot wrote.
“And we are especially thrilled to be announcing this on #InternationalDayoftheGirl. We hope women and girls all around the world, who aspire to tell stories will never give up on their dreams and will make their voices heard, by and for other women,” she added.
And we are especially thrilled to be announcing this on #InternationalDayoftheGirl
We hope women and girls all around the world, who aspire to tell stories will never give up on their dreams and will make their voices heard, by and for other women.— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) October 12, 2020