How Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins Convinced Robin Wright to Play Antiope

Robin Wright, the actor behind the DC Extended Universe’s Antiope, recently spoke about how director Patty Jenkins convinced her to take on the role in Wonder Woman. Antiope last appeared in Wonder Woman: 1984, where she imparted Amazonian wisdom to a young Diana in the film’s prologue. Wright first played the warrior in 2017’s Wonder Woman and made a brief, blink-and-you-miss-it appearance in Justice League, released later that year.

Wonder Woman was released to critical acclaim and box office success. Jenkins’ first foray into the superhero genre made $412,563,408 in North America and is still regarded as a high point, both creatively and financially, in the DC Extended Universe. The film’s initial setting of Themyscira and its population of female warriors is certainly part of the film’s appeal. Wright’s performance as the Amazonian general Antiope and Diana’s aunt is key to that appeal.

Wright recently appeared on Collider Ladies Night while promoting her latest film Land, which is also her feature directorial debut. There, she explained why she took on the role. Signing on to Wonder Woman also meant committing to a film franchise, a first for the award-winning actress. Wright explains that Jenkins’ enthusiasm and passion for the film and its message made the decision an easy one. You can read her quote below:

“Patty Jenkins the director, her enthusiasm on the phone when she called me – because I was shooting House of Cards at the time – she called and she’s like, ‘Do you want to play one of the greatest warrior women of the Amazon nation?’ I was like, ‘Of course!’ [Laughs] It was a no-brainer. I was like, ‘That’s gonna be a hoot.’ And we got to get in the best shape of our lives training for that movie at 50-years-old. I was like, ‘I’m into that. Let’s go for it.’ I adore her and I loved both movies’ messages. [They’re] really about justice and equality and love, and I’m a sucker for that stuff.”

“She’s so quick and so bright. And she really pushed to have her movie. You know, because that’s a big production stew, you know? That’s a big pot, a lot of people, a lot of opinions and a lot of directions; ‘This is the movie we should make, this is the movie we should release,’ all those and she really persevered and she was able to make her movie. “She’s the Energizer Bunny, you know? She’s going to get what she wants and she doesn’t have to be mean about it. She’s very ambitious and I really respect that strength.”

Wonder Woman 1984 was not as critically successful as its predecessor but was the main cinematic event in the midst of a holiday movie season hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. This month will see the release of the much-anticipated Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Wright’s full battle sequence was cut from the original theatrical release of the film, but fans can expect to see Antiope in all her martial glory in the restored version. Antiope has been an important, thematic ingredient in Jenkins’ portion of the DC Universe so it’s a good thing that Jenkins was able to convince Wright to join her film.

Many of the entries in the DC Extended Universe have dealt with competing creative visions or last-minute shake-ups. A common criticism of the franchise is that it has never quite found its’ voice. However, Jenkins’ two films have clear messages about right and wrong. Gal Gadot’s Diana is a classic superhero, and Wright’s Antiope is a classic mentor figure. Antiope’s death in the first film’s opening act propels Diana on her journey to the outside world. In last year’s Wonder Woman 1984, her hard lesson about truth in the prologue becomes the film’s central theme in Diana’s final battle against Max Lord. Jenkins clearly got to make her movies the way she saw fit, and they clearly benefited from having Wright involved.

Source: Collider

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