Zack Snyder stopped one Batman v Superman star from leaving Hollywood, leading to one of DCEU’s best casting choices.

Filmmaker Zack Snyder’s tenure with DC proved to be extremely tumultuous and had several ups and downs. However, one of the high points of Snyder’s take on the popular comic book characters was the fan-favorite casting of Henry Cavill as Superman. With Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, Snyder established Cavill as a commercial action star.

Zack Snyder directed 2016’s Batman v Superman (Credit: Warner Bros).

However, Cavill wasn’t the only actor whose career got a major boost because of Snyder. In an interview, Snyder talked about the casting of one DCEU actress who considered exiting Hollywood when she auditioned for Batman v Superman. That actress is none other than Gal Gadot and here is what you need to know about Gadot’s Wonder Woman casting.

Zack Snyder revealed Gal Gadot was ready to quit Hollywood before Batman v Superman casting

Filmmaker Zack Snyder launched the DCEU with the 2013 Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill. The film’s commercial success led to 2016’s Batman v Superman, which introduced Ben Affleck’s Batman and Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman laying the foundation for a Justice League movie.

Zack Snyder picked Gal Gadot to play Wonder Woman in DCEU (Credit: Warner Bros).

However, Snyder had to unfortunately exit the project before completing it due to a personal tragedy. When he eventually returned to complete his director’s cut of the movie, Snyder talked about Gadot’s casting as Wonder Woman in the franchise.

I remember Gal saying to me, ‘Zack, I was going to quit the business. I was getting ready to just move back to Tel Aviv and just have a life there. I was done with Hollywood. I was going to do this one more audition.’

Snyder made the above statement to Vanity Fair, recalling Gadot telling him about her intentions to return to her native Israel and leave Hollywood behind for good.

However, Gadot’s final audition was for the role of Wonder Woman and she landed the part, becoming an important cog in Snyder’s DCEU. Gadot’s solo outing as the superheroine grossed $824 million across the globe, further proving that Snyder had made the right call with her casting.

Gal Gadot reflected on her Wonder Woman audition with Zack Snyder

Before joining the DCEU, Gadot was known for her role as Gisele Yashar in the Fast & Furious franchise. She was hardly an established leading lady let alone a commercial star. However, the popularity of Gadot’s Wonder Woman cannot be understated as she is now estimated to be worth $40 million.

Gal Gadot had a nerve-wracking audition for Wonder Woman casting (Credit: Warner Bros).

During an interview with Variety, Gadot talked about her casting as Wonder Woman, meeting Snyder, and the intense audition process she had to undergo to land what is arguably her most popular role to date. She said,

It was finally Zack who called me and said, “Have you ever heard of Wonder Woman?” I went dead for about five seconds.

Gadot revealed that she initially did an audition round with Snyder, which confirmed that the role she was testing for was related to Superman.

However, when she was called back to test opposite Affleck, Snyder told her she was in contention for the role of Wonder Woman. After the final audition, Gadot admitted she went through a nerve-wracking process for six weeks until she finally heard back from the producers and learned she had landed the part.

Batman v Superman and other DCEU movies are streaming on Max.