Hey, have you heard they made a Wonder Woman movie? You have? Well, you might not know that elite CrossFit Games athlete Brooke Ence was cast in it as a butt-kicking Amazonian warrior named Penthiselea.
Ence competed in the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games, but she missed qualifying for the 2016 Games by one spot, which she called “devastating.” She planned to come back harder for 2017, but earlier this year she had to withdraw from the CrossFit Open this year due to a herniated disc injury.
In a new interview with Muscle & Fitness, she goes into great detail about how she hopes the film will inspire more women to believe that “strong is beautiful.”
“I just couldn’t say no to doing the movie because I know that I need to do what I can to make that message last and affect more people in a positive way,” she said. “What better way than to be an Amazon in Wonder Woman?”
She went on to say that she’s now taking acting lessons in case she has more opportunities to appear in films.
“I’ve decided there are two roles that I know I would be good for,” she said. “The first is the female Thor. The other would be She-Ra, the Princess of Power. I’m obsessed with the idea of them making a He-Man and She-Ra.”
In another interview with People, she described how her training differed from CrossFit.
We did stunt practice a couple of days a week. I had to know how to use the sword. The swords weren’t light! Luckily for me, I grew up dancing so it was like second nature because it’s like choreography. I also grew up riding horses, and we were training on horseback every day. Riding horses was by far my favorite [part of training].
The Muscle and Fitness interview focuses more on her diet and training, while the People article is more about the female empowerment slant. Both are definitely worth a read.
Ence seems to have thoroughly enjoyed her time on set, but her fans might be a little bummed if they go to the film expecting her to have a lot of screen time — she only briefly appears during a fight scene on a beach. In an Instagram comment, she wrote, “they cut all of the fighting scenes that we were in. I was super bummed but I know you will see me in Justice League so that’s a positive note.”
How about that — Brooke Ence is returning for the Justice League movie in November! Here’s hoping Penthiselea sees a little more action than she did in Wonder Woman.
Featured image via @brookeence on Instagram.