Rachel Weisz. That’s who I’d like to see playing Diana.
She’s got the acting chops, she’s a hard body (as anyone who saw her in “The Mummy Returns” will attest) and she’s got a knack for carrying herself well in crazy movie situations that would serve her well in the role.
Is she especially tall? Not at 5′ 7″. But anyone who thinks that’s a major problem simply doesn’t have a clue as to “movie magic.” Camera angles, apple boxes, trenches, stunt doubles…guys, if the six-foot-plus Hugh Jackman could play that runt, Wolverine, and Peter Jackson could knock about two feet of height off John Rhys-Davies, I don’t think it’s that much of a trick to add four inches of height to an actress.
Plus I think she’d look good visually with Lynda Carter as her mom.
So that’s my vote.
PAD
• 
I adore Rachel Weisz. I could see her as Wonder Woman. She’d be dámņëd good in the role, and I even think that she should use her native accent rather than her American-ized accent because why would Diana have an American-ized accent?
However.
I would also love to see Weisz on Doctor Who. She’s an unrepetant fan–she was reportedly miffed that she wasn’t allowed to audition for the role of Rose Tyler–and I would hate to see something that would raise her profile such that she could be priced out of Russell T. Davies’ budget assuming he could find the right role for her.
(However, there are rumors that Kate Winslet will be in the final two episodes of the current season, and I’d have thought she was out of the Beeb’s budget, too.)
If we could see Rachel Weisz as Professor Bernice Summerfield, I’d go crazy doing the happy dance. I can so see Weisz as Benny. I can so see Weisz shagging the Doctor’s brain out. Happy dance! Happy dance!
Wait. I’m straying off topic, here.
Weisz as Princess Diana and Wonder Woman? It would work. It would work. 🙂
I’d be for this. Loved her in the Mummy movies, and shows she can handle action/fight scenes and pull them off pretty well. Plus I think she has a lot of emotional range to her…which may or may not be needed in a WW film, but knowing Joss’ work, I’m guessing she’ll get a chance to emote.
The answer is clear …
Tiffany Amber Thiessen!
But why bother using “movie magic,” when they can just get someone taller for the role? Besides, they wouldn’t even bother to use special effects if they cast someone of Weisz’s stature. If you’ll recall, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was no shorter than Hugh Jackman himself. We’d probably just end up with an average-sized Wonder Woman.
I’d rather they cast an unknown. I can’t think of any actress who is suited for the role.
“I’d rather they cast an unknown. I can’t think of any actress who is suited for the role.”
The advantage of casting an unknown is that audience members can say, “Look, it’s Wonder Woman” rather than “Look, it’s Sandra Bullock in a Wonder Woman costume.” So it’s certainly an elegant solution to the willing suspension of disbelief problem.
That said, although there are certainly fans of Weisz’s work in abundance (including me), she’s not a household name. Ask the average person in the street who “Julia Roberts” is, you’ll get a fast answer. Ask who Rachel Weisz is, they’ll probably say they think maybe there was a girl by that name in their high school. She treads the gray area between “unknown” and “movie star,” which is why I prefer her to the far more high-profile fan fave Zeta-Jones.
PAD
“But why bother using “movie magic,” when they can just get someone taller for the role?”
Because it’s done all the time. ALL the time. They get the best person for the role and work around that to adjust physicality. Why didn’t they just get a bulky lookalike for Ali? Because they got Will Smith instead, that’s why, once they were done with bulking him up and some appliances, poof, it’s Ali, fabulous he.
PAD
Rachel Weisz?
Um. No.
Didn’t do a dámņ thing for me in “Constantine” or either of the “Mummy” movies.
Essentially your “non-descript actress type”: She’s ok. Definitely not the Diana type.
Rachel Weistz would be OK. She doesn’t thrill me, but she’d definately get the job done. My big issue is even when i’ve seen her be tough on screen she still carries an undertone of waifishness (if that is a real world). I would not complain if she was cast (as I did for Keanu in Constantine, and Heather Graham in From Hëll). I just think they should cast someone a bit tougher than her.
Though I agree. I think Catherine Zeta Jones is too big of a name for the role. We wouldn’t be seeing Princess Diana, we’d just see Princess Catherine.
My vote remains steady with Jill Hennassey or Evangeline Lilly (Kate on the tv series Lost). Both tough inside and out, very attractive, and neither a big enough star to distract us from the role.
They should get Julia “Butterfly” Hill. She’s young, in shape, glams up nicely and is already sort of like Wonder Woman just with a tree fetish.
Jill Hennessy.
She’s been my choice to play Diana for years.
Not that the idea doesn’t have merit – I just don’t know if she’d do it – I do have to say this.
Having seen her on the street in NYC, Rachel Weisz is nowhere NEAR 5’7″. Not even close. She’s 5’7″ the way Allen Iverson is 6’1″. I’m guessing PAD got the number from the IMDb, those notorious liars about height.
My guess would be around 5’3′, 5’4″ tops. And I thought the Sixers’ program was inaccurate…
JLK
Perfect choice.
Monica Belucci. She’s already got that Mediterranean look for her.
You know, I don’t see why exactly it’s so important that WW be tall. I know that’s the image of her we have now from the Byrne/Perez/etc portrayals but I don’t know that the Golden Age WW was supposed to be a towering figure. Yeah, calling someone an Amazon nowadays is code ofr “You’re very tall.” but so what? Wear the costume, bounce a few bullets off your bracelets, and I’m sold.
Only the hardcore fanboys cared that Wolverine wasn’t short in the movies, which deprived us of…what exactly? A few throwaway lines. Jackman also has less backhair than the “real” Wolverine but unless they cast Ron Jeremy and/or Bigfoot we were going to have to live with it.
I know it’s not going to happen but I’ll say it again. Monica Belluci. On the other hand, remember that I am the guy who would cast her in pretty much EVERY movie, up to and including the title role in THE RONDO HATTON STORY.
Am I the only one who’s confused here? And a bit creeped-out as well?
At the risk of sounding like a sexist jerkwad, I don;t think Jill Hennesey is right for Diana. Even in the older version, Wonder Woman was seriously built, and Jill’s just too skinny.
I haven’t seen Tiffany Amber Thiessen lately, but if she looks anything like she did when I did last see her, she’s definitely got the – er – talents to pull it off…
I’d go for Jolene Blalock only if she put some weight back on – I didn’t know Vulcans got anorexia!
I said it before, I’ll say it again.
Beyonce!
I may be more familiar with the ’60s Andru/Esposito Wonder Woman than the current ersion, but when exactly did Amazons become Immortals who never age?
I do like Peter’s idea of Lynda Carter as the Queen, but I mentioned it over at Jump The Shark and Kat suggested Angelica Huston or Olympia Dukakis for the role, both of which seem like good ideas, though neither is likely to be the mother of a princess in her twenties.
But didn’t Perez’s post-Crisis Hippolyta sculpt her daughter from clay? What does age have to do with i
The fact that Joss Whedon is directing is what led me to my choice for WW: Gina Torres. Not likely to happen, I admit, but she’d be great.
“The advantage of casting an unknown is that audience members can say, “Look, it’s Wonder Woman” rather than “Look, it’s Sandra Bullock in a Wonder Woman costume.”
Along similar, lines, that’s why the relatively unknown Michael Rennie was cast as Klaatu in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” instead of an established movie star (a specific star was mentioned in the audio commentary, but I forget whom). Director Robert Wise wanted people to see Klaatu, not a big name star.
Rick
I’d have to agree that Rachel Weisz would be a excellent choice and a very pleasant surprise.
If it isn’t her, I’d prefer an unknown actress provided that her acting ability is at least as good as her other… umm… attributes. The character of Wonder Woman deserves someone who can do more than fill out a costume. 🙂
Julia Sawalha,
excellent middle eastern born british actress,
can also play a clark kent-ish diana prince.
usually seen as Saffron, daughter on Ab-Fab
soon to be Bond girl in Casino Royal opposite….
Clive Owen.
While I still maintain Catherine Zeta-Jones is perfect for the role (watch her swordfighting in THE MARK OF ZORRO to be impressed with her physical traits and jaw-dropping beauty), Rachel Weisz would work great. Just keep Sandra Bullock away from the lead.
Oddly enough, PAD, somebody on the IMDb boards 3 days ago suggested Weisz for the role of WW. 🙂
Elisha Cuthbert.
You know it to be true.
Don’t have much opinion on who should play Wonder Woman, but after watching a mess of Firefly and seeing a still of another role where she gothed up, I think Jewel Staite has the right perkiness to play Neil Gaiman’s Death.
Unfortunately, she probably doesn’t have the star power for top billing, but it’s a nice thought…
You know, I hadn’t thought about her until I saw an interview last night on television, but what about Leelee Sobieski? She’s 5’10” and 22 years old (I looked it up), so she’s the right age, and height appropriate. She’s a great actress, and has a certain sense of “grace” about her as well.
The more I think about it, the more I think she’d be perfect.
Having only seen Rachel Weisz in “Enemy at the Gate”, I have to say the idea has some merit – in her role in that movie she projected both toughness and thoughtfulness and showed she looks great in a uniform (should they decide to give Diana an armed forces alter ego in the Wonder Woman film).
As for Lynda Carter as Hippolyta – while I can see the nostalgia appeal, is she a good enough actress for the part should it amount to more than e.g. the part of either of Bruce Wayne’s parents in Tim Burton’s “Batman”? I ask this without trying to be nasty, because unfortunately I did not watch the TV series and can’t really recall ever seeing a movie in which she performed.
I don’t totally agree with Rachel Weisz. I can’t really think of another way to say this without sounding like a jerk, but she’s too average looking. Wonder Woman needs to have that “wow” factor. Maybe the very few movies I did see with her (Constantine) that’s the way she was supposed to look.
I think the “wow” factor of WW has a lot to do with the costume. Go back and check out Lynda Carter when she’s not wearing the suit…she’s pretty frumped up, and once you get past the fact that she towers over everyone around her, she’s pretty plain. Put on the red and blues, and take off the coke-bottle glasses, and you’ve got WW. Weisz pretty much pulls the same in the Mummy movies. She’s frumpy in The Mummy, but go back and check the flahsback scenes when she’s pharo’s daughter.
As for movie magic…I’ve already mentioned my Mel Gibson lift shoes in the other thread…I’m 5’10” on a good day. He’s a few inches shorter than me…hard to say, ’cause his hair is a little poofy. But the thing that really struck me was how narrow his shoulders were.
On the X2 DVD, they mention how tall Famke Janssen is and how short James Marsden is…they had to build a catwalk for Marsden in most shots so she didn’t tower over him. Or offset them in the scene so they weren’t standing next to each other. Plus there’s all those scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies where it looks like some human is talking face-face with a hobbit…if you look closely, you can see that they used forced perspective to manage the illusion. It’s a more subtle version of the trick they used to use on the Hercules TV show whenever he fought a giant.
Actually, I like the idea of Rachel.
And anyone who thinks that Lynda Carter wasn’t a bombshell in civies needs to have the sexuality checked.
PAD, out of curiosity, would you set it in today’s world or in WWII?
I have a vested interest in doing it back then, especially if they did a take off of Sky Captain (I’d love to see a Sky Captain-ized JSA movie…)
Kirk Alyn as Mr. Lane… a nice, nostalgic nod to the past.
Noelle Neil as Mrs. Lane… a nice nostalgic nod to the past.
Lou Ferrigno as a nameless walk-by cop… nice, nostalgic, nod.
Stan Lee as this guy or that… quick and non intrusive. Nods all of them.
Marvin the Paranoid Android in the background. You’d have to know him to even notice.
Seeing Lynda Carter doing a cameo somewhere in the Wonder Woman movie would be a nice, nostalgic nod to the past TV series, but for her to play Diana’s immortal mother Hippolyta is more than a warm fuzzy for the older fanboys. It just doesn’t work.
If your tired glands want to see Lynda play an immortal, watch the first two seasons on DVD. If you still don’t know why she cannot play an immortal amazon queen today, at least listen to her on the commentary track. That should clear it up. She’s an old woman and she sounds like it.
Hippolyta doesn’t get old.
One thing I’ve noticed from all of those who are willing to sacrifice the right treatment of a major motion picture story for a warm fanboy fuzzy is that they never even address Lynda’s age. What is the intent? To make the theatrical release right, or to revive the old and campy TV series?
So, Peter, with your considerable imagineering skills, how *would* you explain an immortal-but-obviously-old amazon queen? Without just ignoring the issue, and without interfering with the advance of the real story, or it’s just not worth it.
It would be nice to see Lynda Carter do a cameo in the Wonder Woman movie, wouldn’t it? A nice nostalgic nod to the past.
What about Bridget Moynahan? She’s tall (5’9″), relatively known (roles in I,Robot ,Sum of All Fears, and Coyote Ugly to name a few), and has the perfect look. She’s also girlfriend to Tom Brady of the New England Patriots.
“And anyone who thinks that Lynda Carter wasn’t a bombshell in civies needs to have the sexuality checked.”
I think I wasn’t trying to say she was unattractive as Diana Prince…just frumpy, and lacking in that WOWZERS category that she was in while in the reds and blues. Mostly in response to a comment that Weisz was too “ordinary,” essentially lacking that wow factor. I think part of the reason why PAD has suggested Weisz is that she could be a clone of Carter. Or maybe a younger sister…or even…a daughter?
In George Perez’ retelling of the Amazon’s story, Hippolyta is clearly a more mature woman than some of the other Amazons. If we’re going strictly with Perez’ take, each of the Amazons is a reborn spirit that suffered a wrongful death at the hands of a man. Some are older, some are younger. Sure, as immortals, they don’t age, but that doesn’t mean that they all popped out of that lake as 20-somethings. Why not have Carter play Hippolyta, at the ageless 50ish age she is? She would be perfect.
Didn’t think about it before, Bridget Moynahan would make for a really good wonder woman. Good call.
Why is it no one here seems to realize that “immortal” is not a synonym for “eternal youth?”
If it were, Diana (and all comic-book immortals) would be gazillion-year-old INFANTS.
Lynda Carter as Hippolyta.
Shane
As I understand it, didn’t all the currently immortal Amazons (except Diana) used to be mortal? They were later made immortal by some Greek god or another. Therefore, the members of the society would be of different ages, and it would make perfect sense for the queen to be Lynda Carter’s age.
I love this thread. You guys are comparing real-world women to some fictional ideal you have, while Breck goes off on his pointless anti-Buffy rants, as if that had anything to do with anything.
Meanwhile, nobody, not even the noble who puts his name at the top of this blog, has asked the only really important question: How can a story about Wonder Woman be interesting to anybody?
Look, the Amazon is a comic book icon, but nobody agrees what icon she should be. Her comic books have been only middlin’ sellers because of that. Is she a white, thin Oprah Winfrey? A blood-covered battle babe? A star-spangled soap opera victim? She certainly isn’t the character from the 1940’s that girls bought and read, because girls don’t buy and read comics any more. Except, of course, Gloria Steinem, who seems to be the only one who cares.
The point being, I don’t think a film about Wonder Woman is anything but a marketing attempt by AOL-TW to make some sheckels out of an old character whom nobody really likes. A Wonder Woman film directed by God Himself couldn’t get anybody to watch.
I did make that point, Thomas. How do you explain a Roman Warrior wrapped tightly in an American flag? What about her abilities is particularly visual that we haven’t seen in Superman? What does she have to say that’s worthy of film?
WW is a fun comic book character, but she can’t really stand on her own.
Thomas E. Reed asked, “: How can a story about Wonder Woman be interesting to anybody?”
Let’s see…
It’s interesting to all the comic book fans who have kept her comic book going for over half a century and want to see her brought to the big screen.
It’s interesting to action fans who want to see a strong female lead kick butt and do it successfully and intelligently. (Usually the heroine either shares her screentime with a man (the upcoming MR. AND MRS. SMITH) or gets overshadowed by a male (in TERMINATOR 2 Linda Hamilton kicked serious ášš — and was forgotten about once Ahnuld came on screen). CATWOMAN and the TOMB RAIDER movies didn’t have these problems; sadly, they didn’t have intelligence either.)
It’s interesting to movie execs, who see superhero movies as the current big thing, looking at successes (Spider-Man and X-Men franchises) and forgetting about failures like DAREDEVIL and STEEL.
It’s interesting to horny males (and probably quite a few females too!) who want to see a beautiful woman re-filling that outfit so beautifully worn by Linda Carter in the ’70s. (When the New York City Museum of Sex opened, Wonder Woman got her own display; she was also the only superhero featured in the whole exhibit.)
It’s interesting to Joss Whedon fans, who want to see what he can do with the Wonder Woman mythos.
And based on the # of comments here, it’s interesting to PAD fans.
I know it will happen, but I really hope that the producers don’t cast a twenty-something Wonder Woman. It sounds odd for me to say that, since I’m a twenty-four year old myself, but I don’t see Wonder Woman as being that young. Ideally, she should be between the ages of 30 and 35.
I have a rather odd favorite that I would nominate: Lauren Graham, of Gilmore Girls fame. Granted, she’s about 37, and she hasn’t taken any action roles, as I can recall.
But it’s probably just my attraction for Lauren Graham speaking. She’s shapely, she’s got a sense of humor, she can act, she’s got outstanding hair, and she’s just convey just enough sexual energy to get the job done. (One need only see the film Bad Santa to see a really sexual Lauren Graham.) At the same time, she can be sweet, playful, endearing, smart, and mature.
She’s a dark horse nominee…it would never happen. Again, I don’t know that she’s got the chops to handle the action scenes.
But man…Lauren Graham is very attractive to me. I make no apologies…it’s an odd choice. But it works for me. 😉
“How do you explain a Roman warrior wrapped in an American flag?”
I thought Paradise Island (or Themyscria or whatever they’re calling it these days) was off the coast of Greece (and pretty close to the Isle of Lesbos, nudge nudge, wink wink, know what I mean?)
And I thought there were other flags that used the red white and blue (or as Jean Luc Picard would say, blue white and red) color scheme. Oh, we do have a blue field with stars on our flag, but the stars don’t only shine in the American sky. And our national emblem is an Eagle, but didn’t that come off her costume a few years back?
Wonder Woman is one of the Big three: an iconic and archetypal super-hero on equal footing with Superman and Batman. She is not merely the first super-heroine, she is THE super-heroine. Yes, conceptually she is the female Superman, with the flying and strength. But Supergirl isn’t a princess.
Wonder Woman is all about psychology. She was created by the inventor of the lie detector, who gave her a magic lasso that compels whoever she binds with it to speak only the truth.
She was created by a psychologist who fully understood the sexual symbolism of an all-women society (“Suffering Sappho!”) and the symbolism of a powerful woman who becomes submissive to any man who can bind her bracelets together.
As far as the fun kids stuff like fortresses of solitude and batmobiles and utility belts, she has a whole island, an entire society, a purple healing ray, a magic lasso, Powers granted by gods and goddesses easily comparable to those of Captain Marvel, she can bounce bullets off her bracelets and she has a freaking invisible jet airplane! Not to mention some sort of magic girdle, whatever that does.
Does anyone who can’t see how to get a couple hours of entertainment out of a character like that even have an imagination?
Now the part of this discussion that’s losing me is why so many peolple seem to be convinced that a character who’s beeen around for SIXTY-FIVE years has look like she’s in her early twenties.
Women under thirty are children.
There’s actually an advantage to casting a shorter woman in the role. When she’s in Diana Prince mode, just don’t use any height-manipulating tricks.
Ok, Rachel Weisz is an awesome choice and I’d love it because I love her. But my choice is another Whedonite, Morena Baccarin. She played Inara in “Firefly” and in the upcoming movie “Serenity”. Please, god let it be her!
Strangely I used to really wish for WW to be a little bustier but I think it’d be better for a more regal persona and Morena can do it.
Michael J Norton
Honestly, I’d love to be proven wrong. I’d love to see a woman who can fight and not look dorky doing it. I’d love to see an invisible plane, a truth telling lasso, a purple healing ray, and the costume not come off as anything other than hokey. The show was fun, but it was hokey AND it was the small screen.
I’ve a set designer friend who’s come up with full storyboards for a kickbutt WW movie, but it’s even further removed than Cathy Lee Crosby was from the source material.
MAYBE you could get away with something set in WWII. Maybe.
“Because it’s done all the time. ALL the time. They get the best person for the role and work around that to adjust physicality.”
But that’s supposing Weisz is the best person for the role, and I don’t think she is. She’s very attractive, but she’s not a good actress. She was just plain bad in The Mummy.
“I have a rather odd favorite that I would nominate: Lauren Graham, of Gilmore Girls fame. Granted, she’s about 37, and she hasn’t taken any action roles, as I can recall.”
Don’t feel weird. I’ve always felt that she’d be perfect. But it will never happen. Nice to know I’m not the only one (For reference, I’m just a couple months shy of 21).
Barring Lauren Graham, I’ve gotta throw my vote to Evangeline Lilly. When she was first mentioned, I could instantly see her as a younger Diana.
After her appearance as a renegade amazon on “Xena”, I would have picked Melinda Clarke of “The O.C.”
How about Angelina Jolie? She’s got the height, she’s exotic, can do the action scenes and will fill out the costume as well as anybody.
After her appearance as a renegade amazon on “Xena”, I would have picked Melinda Clarke of “The O.C.”
Lady Heather? Um, I don’t think so…