Gal Gadot’s journey as Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in the DCEU was definitely a downward trajectory. She was praised in 2017 when her eponymous film became a massive hit, with a unanimously positive reception. However, she dropped the ball on the character with her very next appearance in the same year. One of the scenes in Joss Whedon’s Justice League gave her quite the reputation as a bad actress.
Her next appearance came in the sequel to her solo movie, Wonder Woman 1984, which was a messy product. The storyline wasn’t that good and Gadot got trolled again for bad acting, particularly in one scene with Pedro Pascal. It happened to be one of the most-remembered scenes in the film but for all the wrong reasons.
Gal Gadot’s Terrible Acting In Wonder Woman 1984 Makes You Question Her Acting Skills
Gal Gadot has immense support from DC fans in the role of Wonder Woman. However, she can’t escape the criticism for her acting from regular movie-goers. She has shown some of the worst acting skills in her role as Diana Prince, despite her first solo film Wonder Woman grossing a whopping $824 million (via Box Office Mojo).
In the poorly executed sequel to that film, Gadot famously did a terrible job of conveying emotions during one of the combination scenes with Pedro Pascal. Pascal played the DC villain Maxwell Lord, whom the superhero needs to stop from destroying the world with the all-powerful Dreamstone.
In the scene, Gadot’s character lands on top of the vehicle that Pascal’s Max Lord is traveling in and delivers one of the worst movie lines. The moment quickly went viral, with fans widely discussing Gadot’s delivery. Many also speculated about Pascal’s reaction in the scene, believing it was aimed more at Gadot’s delivery than at seeing Wonder Woman herself.
Some of the fan reactions to the video pointed out that she delivered her line as if a news reporter were talking to a camera. Others also teased her and compared her to Arnold Schwarzenegger in delivering dialogues. Some also commented that she always looked like she was reading off a giant whiteboard in front of her. The fan reactions read:
Pedro’s face is everyone’s reaction to her line delivery
@arielpagliero9619
She delivers her lines like she’s a young news reporter talking to the camera during a terrible rainstorm
@Sympathy_forLadyVengeance
Reminds me Schwarzenegger’s early days, but a female…
@CreationK.
Pedro’s not acting there, that’s legit cringe from witnessing Gal’s acting.
@horaciocarrillo2843
She needs to get some acting lessons
@iheartdelrey
she always looks like shes reading off a giant whiteboard in front of her
@teej6632
Wonder Woman 1984 was an average attempt from Patty Jenkins, which, combined with Gadot’s wooden acting and WB’s poor release strategy, made it into a disaster. The film was released in 2020, with WB opting for simultaneous release in theaters as well as streaming. The film ended up making $170 million on a $200 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
Gal Gadot Was Already Being Criticized for One Scene With Henry Cavill’s Superman
Gal Gadot’s line delivery was already an issue in Justice League, however, it was one of the least problematic parts of the film. Fans had a field day trolling her for her acting during the Superman resurrection scene. When Henry Cavill‘s character was resurrected from the dead, he had no memory of who he was. He considered the Justice League in front of him as enemies.
Cyborg’s system was merged with the Mother Box, which accidentally activated his defense system and fired at Superman, making him angry. As he was about to unleash his fury on his former friends, Gadot’s Wonder Woman delivers the line, “Kal-El, No!”, in the most laughable manner. It also received criticism for how Diana never knew Superman close enough to address him by his Kryptonian name.
Wonder Woman 1984 and Justice League are now available for streaming on Max.