At 43, Charlize Theron is nine years older than Gal Gadot, which, yes, take out your calculators, means Gadot is 34. This silly math diversion is important for understanding the rest of the article, as Theron revealed on Watch What Happens Live this week that she had the briefest of talks to star in the rah-rah superhero extravaganza Wonder Woman. However, these talks quickly collapsed, given that Theron and those casting the DC film had wildly different expectations as to what role she’d actually be playing.
“This is a great of example of how Hollywood slaps you in the face when you start aging,†Theron explained. “So somebody had said to me, ‘Oh, there’s action on this thing, Wonder Woman — we just want to make you aware of it.’ And I was like, ‘I’m just not familiar with it … I mean, what does Wonder Woman do?’ And this person said, ‘No, it’s for Wonder Woman’s mom.’†The role of Hippolyta would later be given to the somewhat more age-appropriate Connie Nielsen (she’s 53), and Theron insists she’s over it. “It was the defining moment where I crossed over,†she added. “And I wasn’t fully aware of it.â€