'QUEEN CLEOPATRA' ACTRESS ADELE JAMES TALKS 'BLACKWASHING'

By Lisa Respers France, CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire

"Won- der Woman" star Gal Gadot had been cast to play Cleopatra in a forthcoming film.

At the crux of the debate among histo- rians has been whether Cleopatra, who hailed from a long line of Macedonian Greeks, would have darker skin because of her African ancestry. Those who support the belief that she did also point to the fact that Egypt is part of the continent of Africa.

"Queen Cleopatra" is part of Pinkett Smith's "African Queens" franchise. In an article posted last month on Netflix's Tudum site, the series' producers addressed the royal's ethnicity.

"Her ethnicity is not the focus of Queen Cleopatra, but we did