Evangeline Lilly talks turning down role of Wonder Woman in Joss Whedon’s never-produced screenplay

Evangeline Lilly recently opened up about turning down the part of Wonder Woman in the mid-2000s. 

The 43-year-old actress, who plays the superhero Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, talked about Joss Whedon’s never-produced screenplay in an interview on Thursday’s episode of the Happy Sad Confused Podcast. 

‘I had no desire [to do it],’ she said on the show. ‘And he could tell.’ 

She then added that she was too young to ‘be that polite’ when turning down the offer almost 20 years ago. 

Some people called Whedon’s script sexist after it leaked online in 2017, around the same time Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot came out. 

Turning down a part: Evangeline Lilly recently opened up about turning down the part of Wonder Woman in the mid-2000s (pictured February 16, 2023)

Some lines that drew attention were character descriptions of women, one of which read ‘middle-aged but very much in her prime.’  

‘It didn’t appeal, and there was nothing about the meeting that like jazzed me or made me think, “Oh, I’ve gotta do this,”‘ she continued. ‘Nothing clicked. Nothing felt good.’ 

‘I am way too authentic for my own good. I mean, it’s not good. If I am not impressed, you’ll know. And maybe you shouldn’t know sometimes. And I think there was maybe even a little bit of offense taken.’ 

Clearly Whedon didn’t take too much offense as Lilly ultimately won the role of Hope van Dyne in the Marvel movies. 

Whedon has been accused of holding a grudge when it comes to problems with actors in the past. 

Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg in the Justice League film, accused Whedon of ‘gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable’ toward the cast during the making of the film. 

Gadot relayed a story of when Whedon threatened her career saying that he said he would ‘make sure my career is miserable’ if she made a certain decision.

Lilly’s interview came out just a day before the scheduled release of her new movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. 

Turning down a part: The 43-year-old actress, who plays the superhero Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, talked about Joss Whedon’s never-produced screenplay in an interview on Thursday’s episode of the Happy Sad Confused Podcast (pictured February 16, 2023)

Sexist script? Some people called Whedon’s script sexist after it leaked online in 2017, around the same time Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot came out (pictured 2012)

 Cast: Clearly Whedon didn’t take too much offense as Lilly ultimately won the role of Hope van Dyne in the Marvel movies

Threatened: Gadot relayed a story of when Whedon threatened her career saying that he said he would ‘make sure my career is miserable’ if she made a certain decision

The movie, according to IMDb, follows Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang, Hope and others as they explore the microscopic Quantum Realm. 

Rudd, Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Michael Douglas and The Good Place star William Jackson Harper are all set to star in the film. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set for release on Friday and is expected to have a huge opening weekend, the biggest in franchise history.