Following the announcement that Gal Gadot would be portraying Cleopatra, a debate emerged not about her capability to play the part, but about whether a white woman should be cast as the Queen of the Nile.

The question of what Cleopatra truly looked like is not a new one. While Shakespeare described her beauty in dramatic fashion, ancient artwork often depicted her as plain. In fact, a coin from 32BC portrays her as somewhat homely.

The prevailing belief regarding Cleopatra's ethnicity is that she was white and of Macedonian descent, as were all the rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty that resided in Egypt.

 

In 2009, archaeologists working on a BBC documentary proposed a different theory when they discovered what they believed to be the remains of Cleopatra's sister, Princess Arsinoe, in Turkey. These findings indicated that the mother of both Cleopatra and Arsinoe was likely African, challenging the accepted belief of Macedonian lineage.

In a separate study, Egyptologist Dr. Sally-Ann Ashton created a 3D computer animated image of Cleopatra in 2008, depicting a brown-skinned woman with cornrows. She suggests that if Cleopatra's maternal family were indigenous women, it is plausible they were African. 

Dr. Ashton also voices her opinion on the casting of Gadot, stating that the filmmakers should have considered an actor of mixed ancestry to portray Cleopatra. According to her, this choice would have been valid and aligned with the recognition of people of African heritage in various sectors.