After speculation over Gal Gadot’s possible appearance at the Venice Film Festival sparked controversy, Jewish American director Julian Schnabel, whose film "In the Hand of Dante" stars the Israeli actress, addressed the boycott calls in an interview with Ynet.
“When she gave a speech after receiving an award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, she spoke about peace, and the right-wing party didn’t like it,” he said when asked about the requests that were made for the festival to disinvite Gadot, despite the fact that she had no intention of attending the festival.
“Fifteen years ago I made a movie about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Miral). I said everything I had to say back then. This whole thing now is just one big mess, and it has nothing to do with the film.” He added, "There’s no reason to boycott artists."
"In the Hand of Dante," based on the novel by writer and journalist Nick Tosches, follows the discovery of a rare handwritten manuscript of Dante Alighieri’s poem “The Divine Comedy.” After being found in the Vatican library, the manuscript makes its way from a church to a mob boss in New York City and eventually to Tosches.
Alongside Gadot, the cast includes Al Pacino, Jason Momoa, Martin Scorsese, Gerard Butler and Oscar Isaac.
Gadot plays a dual role: Giulietta, Tosches’ wife, and Gemma Donati, Dante’s wife in the Middle Ages. Isaac plays both Tosches and Dante.
The film includes intimate scenes between Gadot and Isaac, including one where she appears as a modern Venus rising from the sea, her long hair and arm strategically concealing intimate parts of her body.
Asked why he chose Gadot for the role, Schnabel told Ynet: "I selected those actors for their merits as actors, and they did an extraordinary job in the film, and that’s about it."
He said that when he first spoke to her on FaceTime, he knew right away she could play the part, adding that in this movie she really reminds him of Ingrid Bergman.