Patty Jenkins & Gal Gadot reunite for ‘Cleopatra’

[Kahran Ramsus]

It's like vladimir putin and james cromwell had a baby.

I can't unsee it.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Real Life Julius Caesar:

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Hollywood Julius Caesar:

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LOL has Jonathan Pryce ever played Caesar? Because he’s a dead ringer.

 

[Schlosser85]

Caesar was also slightly-built and epileptic.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

LOL had Jonathan Pryce ever played Caesar? Because he’s a dead ringer.

I don't see it on IMDB, but maybe in theater?

 

[Deck Rickard]

I don't see it on IMDB, but maybe in theater?

Yeah there’s probably a great chance that happened at some point.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I don't see it on IMDB, but maybe in theater?

I'd be shocked if Pryce never played Julius Cesar in the theater.

 

[Batmannerism]

I was going to come in here to say most of this, but I am glad to see many here are pretty well versed in history.

I think the outrage and allegations of whitewashing over this casting is ridiculous.

What knowledge we have of Cleopatra's racial background was that it was Greek and the Ptolemaic dynasty had a well-noted history of inbreeding. It may be that some Egyptian heritage may have entered the bloodline in the last couple generations before Cleopatra, but there is no serious evidence or consensus regarding that.

Criticising a film for casting a Middle Eastern woman of white descent to portray a Middle Eastern women of most likely white descent on the basis of some minor speculation that she may have had some North African heritage is ridiculous. It is only harmful to the credibility of criticism against actual white washing.

If people want to criticize the casting, they should criticise Gal's unrealistic Hollwood beauty versus the actual Cleopatra's more unique appearance and strong nose. I thought the HBO series Rome did an excellent job with casting Lyndsey Marshall. Her features seemed evocative of what little we know from the historic record, such as statues and coins and the like:

EDIT: This image is more accurate as it depicts Cleopatra dressed in Greek style and with her hair styled in bun as is her trademark on coins and statues from her lifetime:

Wasn't Rome a great series ? Cleopatra was a terrific character, strong, smart and crafty- a true Queen of the Nile. I wonder if she was as big a drug fiend in real life?

 

[Batmannerism]

Yes, I don't see Brad Pitt playing Hitler any time soon!

Dude, after seeing Colin Farrell as Penguin who knows, anything is possible.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Dark Raven]

If it's her own project and she wants to play Cleopatra, then why should others protest? It's not like some other studio or director decided to ask Gal on board.

 

[Fosterson]

Real Life Julius Caesar:

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Hollywood Julius Caesar:

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You can add Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy to that list:

 

[Primal Slayer]

Her response is fairly weak lol. But Cleopatra was Greek unless im mistaken? Not necessarily a white wash.

 

[Fosterson]

Caesar was also slightly-built and epileptic.

True story: during one of Caesar's battles in his civil war against his political rivals, he suffered a seizure and had to be carried back to his tent, which led to his army charging forward without orders. They still won, though.

 

[Fosterson]

Her response is fairly weak lol. But Cleopatra was Greek unless im mistaken? Not necessarily a white wash.

Yes. The Ptolemaic dynasty (of which Cleopatra was the last ruler) was established by Ptolemy Soter, who was one of Alexander The Great's generals.

Basically, after Alex died, since there was no clear successor to the Macedonian throne, his generals ended up carving up his empire between them, and Ptolemy managed to grab Egypt for himself. And even though the Ptolemies ruled over Egypt, they still considered themselves to be Greco-Macedonian and the "true" heirs to Alexander. Greek was the official language of their court, their military fought and was equipped in the traditional Macedonian fashion, and their capital was Alexandria, a mainly Greek city. They would still pay deference to the old Egyptian deities and customs in order to appease the native Egyptian population, and included "Pharaoh" as one of their official titles, but that doesn't mean that they considered themselves to be Egyptian.

Ironically, one of the reasons why the popular myth of Cleopatra as this exotic Egyptian temptress has endured is a consequence of the propaganda that was put out about her by Octavian (Antony's rival and the future emperor Augustus). Octavian was keen to emphasise Cleopatra's "foreignness" in order to deflect attention away from the fact that his real war was with Antony, a fellow Roman. It allowed him to present himself as the true leader of the Roman people, and by contrast portray Antony as being under the thumb of of a decadent (the Romans thought that basically all Easterners were like this), foreign and perhaps most importantly female ruler.

 

[Fosterson]

If it's her own project and she wants to play Cleopatra, then why should others protest? It's not like some other studio or director decided to ask Gal on board.

I agree. Also, in all likelihood, the real Cleopatra's complexion was probably very similar to Gal's, so I do think this talk of white-washing is in this instance not really justified.

 

[Lily Adler]

Does she have the nose to match?

 

[Dark Raven]

Does she have the nose to match?

Depends on if Gal wants to completely disguise herself (in which case she'll adopt a fake nose like Nicole Kidman, Steve Carrell or Charlize Theron) or whether she wants to appear as "Gal as Cleopatra" (which I'd be perfectly happy with).

 

[Pennywise]

Patty Jenkins Shares What ‘Cleopatra’ Has in Common with ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Monster’

Cleopatra has famously been the subject of several films, most notably the 1963 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Jenkins had some interesting insight into how her portrayal of the iconic historical figure would be different from past adaptations, as well as the common themes it shares with her current body of work:

"I think I actually have a history of looking at complicated characters… in Monster, who you could tell the story and then, and then, and then. But the truth is when you get into that person's point of view, it becomes an interesting story in a different way. And hopefully I did that with Wonder Woman as well. So applying that same approach to one of the most famous women in history, Cleopatra, the truth is, the only story that we know of her was told by the Romans who killed her and hated her. And so once we really start looking at what does exist elsewhere about Cleopatra, you see a pretty bad-ass, incredible leader. One of the great leaders in Egypt.



Jenkins continued, noting that point of view will be a key component of her take on the film:

"So once we really got down into the nitty gritty details, there's a pretty incredible story there that is the same story but you understand totally differently if you change things just a little bit where you're seeing it from. So I just think it's a story that she deserves to have told one day beautifully. Gal has been developing this for a while and when she brought it to me, I was so excited by what it could possibly be. And I think she'd be an amazing Cleopatra."

 

[Dark Raven]

Maybe Cleopatra will wear an eagle armour as well.

 

[terry78]

 

[AnneFan]

If it's her own project and she wants to play Cleopatra, then why should others protest? It's not like some other studio or director decided to ask Gal on board.

Agree. All aboard the Gal train. Hopefully her career can get momentum with this project, as well as the spy film. Looking forward to both.

 

[Kane52630]

I can guarantee this **** aint happening now unless they want all the smoke.

 

[Black Narcissus]

I can guarantee this **** aint happening now unless they want all the smoke.

You'd be surprised how many pro-israel there are in hollywood tho. Considering our current President also pretty much gave them the go ahead.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I can guarantee this **** aint happening now unless they want all the smoke.

I think it would happen regardless. All of this will blow over like everything else with celebs.

 

[Black Narcissus]

I think it would happen regardless. All of this will blow over like everything else with celebs.

The Mouse most definitely telling Scarjo not to talk about this tho, she has had iffy comments about this in the past.