When actors say they do their own stunts, usually it is seen as a badge of honor and mark of pride, but Gal Gadot has other thoughts about the subject. The actress, who is best known for playing Wonder Woman, recently shared that for her Netflix movie, Heart of Stone, she really “bumped up” the stunt work she did herself. However, she also explained why she is A-OK with sharing the workload with her stunt team. And of course, since we're talking stunts, Tom Cruise came up in the conversation too.
As Gadot’s thrilling Netflix movie, which she also produced, remains the No. 1 film on the streaming service, the actress spoke about her stunt work on Heart of Stone. She called the project “full-on physical” between scenes of her fighting in the air, diving into the sea and being chased up a mountain. That being said, she’s not afraid to say she didn’t do it all by herself. As she explained:
When people say: ‘I do all of my stunts by myself,’ I’m like, ‘Really?!’ [The exception] is Tom Cruise, who really, really does them.
Sure, Tom Cruise makes it look easy, but that doesn’t mean other action stars share the same thirst to jump off cliffs and climb massive buildings. Gadot called the Mission: Impossible actor the exception to big actors doing all their stunts, because the way she sees it there’s nothing wrong with leaning on those teams to do some of the heavy lifting. During the same interview with Flaunt magazine, Gadot continued, saying this:
I always try to celebrate my stunt women and men. The amount of work and the risk they take, the dedication—everything they give is just incredible. They’ve become like a second family to me. They should be celebrated because they really make us look like the best version of ourselves.
Gadot also gave a shout-out to some of the stunt team she worked with on Heart of Stone who have been with her for years, from her first time in the Fast & Furious franchise to her time playing Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman in Warner Bros’ DCEU. While the actress admits she can’t do it all, she certainly has an impressive background in physical training that helps her play action stars in movies like Heart of Stone.
The actress was once a trainer in the Israeli forces during her compulsory national service, and she has studied dance as well. If that’s not impressive enough, Gal Gadot was actually pursuing a law degree and modeling all at once, after becoming Miss. Israel in 2004, when her Hollywood career began with 2009’s Fast & Furious.
While Gadot may not be an adrenaline junkie like Tom Cruise, she’s proven to be a real-life Wonder Woman, who sought to bring a female-led action character into the landscape with Heart of Stone. While the movie is being watched by millions worldwide right now, critics have not held back with negative thoughts about the movie, including CinemaBlend’s Heart of Stone review, where our own Eric Eisenberg gave the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars, calling it “cringy” and a “mess.”
You can make your own conclusions about Heart of Stone, now streaming with a Netflix subscription.
