Wonder Woman 1984 was a heavily disappointing sequel from Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot after their super successful first film. While fans had a hard time sitting through the film, Gadot revealed that she didn’t have a great time on set either. The Wonder Woman actress and her co-star Kristen Wiig had to endure rashes on their faces and dive into stinky milk water for their roles.
Wiig played the role of the DC supervillain Cheetah, which required her to do some heavy action sequences like Gadot in full costume. The big-budget film was no smooth ride for either of the actresses, especially for Wiig who was suffering from a cold at the time.
Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig Endured Rashes While Filming Wonder Woman 1984
Wonder Woman 1984 made some grave errors in execution that ruined the otherwise great character for the audience. The film failed to break even and Gal Gadot infamously showed some bad acting skills in the movie. Starring alongside Gadot was Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva, Diana’s shy co-worker who transforms into a powerful supervillain.
During the climax of the film, Wonder Woman gets to wear the golden armor of Asteria and fights Barbara who is now in the form of a Cheetah. According to the actresses, the generic action climax was very difficult to film. During their interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2020, they recalled how jumping into the water with their costumes gave them rashes on their face.
The scene took place on a sea shore but the scene was shot indoors. In order to bring the seawater effect, the production added milk to the water. While they didn’t notice anything initially, the milk eventually began to stink. Gadot shared that while people only saw the final polished film, the actresses had to endure a lot of pain to bring the scenes to the screen. She shared with Harper’s Bazaar:
Do you remember the water work we had to do and the rashes that came out over our faces? Then they had to put milk in it and it just stank. People see the final, polished thing, but we had to do diving and you [Kristen] were cold.
Wiig was battling a bad cold from the start of filming and the climax seawater scene only made it worse. The SNL actress shared that she tried not to go too far because of her sinuses. She shared:
I had to make sure I didn’t go down too far because of my sinuses. I had a really bad cold, and it happened to be the day we were shooting under water and scuba diving.
It was definitely not a fun day on set. While Gadot’s costume was heavy due to the armor, Wiig’s costume was an animal prosthetic which made things even more difficult for her when it got wet. Despite their best efforts, Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman sequel was a half-baked attempt.
How Did Gal Gadot Endure Filming Continuous Action Scenes in Wonder Woman 1984?
Gal Gadot had to be physically fit all the time for action sequences, which could take a toll on any other actresses. However, Gadot shared that she avoided burning out during filming the series by taking things one day at a time. She shared that she focused on the now rather than what she had to do in the future.
She shared with Harper’s Bazaar that it was one technique she used in these big-budget action-oriented films. She shared:
In these type of huge movies, you can’t take it as a whole. It’s day by day. It’s not even a week-by-week project because every day is full to the max.
Gal Gadot is trained in martial arts and served as a trainer for the Israel Defense Forces. She shared with The Sun that when it comes to action scenes, she really enjoys filming them. With her training background, she performs a significant portion of her stunts, but the Triple 9 actress remarked that she celebrates her stunt artists and gives due credit to them.
Wonder Woman 1984 is now available for streaming on Max.
