#Connie Nielsen Reveals Epic Wonder Woman Pitch That Convinced Her to Join the DCEU

It might be hard to believe now, but for a long time, it was believed that a live-action Wonder Woman movie would find no takers. Filmmaker Patty Jenkins’ 2017 feature based on the iconic superheroine proved all the naysayers wrong, becoming an instant hit with critics and general audiences. Connie Nielsen was a part of the movie in the role of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, and mother of Princess Diana aka Wonder Woman. In an interview with Collider, Nielsen revealed the one-line pitch that Jenkins provided for her character that convinced the actress to join the project.

“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.”

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More than any other factor, Jenkins’ love for the mythology of Wonder Woman is generally acknowledged to be the main reason for the success of the movies. In the past, Jenkins has spoken about how long and hard she had to fight to bring her vision for the superheroine to the big screen, from the studio hesitating to green-light the project, to various story elements being constantly questioned by studio execs. According to Connie Nielsen, it was Jenkins’ enthusiasm in the face of constant opposition that allowed the Wonder Woman franchise to bloom.

“It’s her passion and her enthusiasm. 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.”

Nielsen will next be seen in Zack Snyder’s Justice League in a brief appearance as Hippolyta, for which the actress remarked in another interview that, “there are so many people who love the Amazons, and I think they’re gonna be excited to see, even more stuff, from the Amazon culture. And they’ll see how bad-ass the Amazons are.” After that comes the untitled Amazons spinoff project that is set to explore the origins of the race of warrior women in greater detail. So fans are going to be seeing a lot more of Hippolyta going forward. This news comes from Collider.

Topics: Wonder Woman