Gal Gadot - P 2013
Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesIsraeli actress Gal Gadot has given what appears to be her first public interview since she landed the role of Wonder Woman in the upcoming Man of Steel follow-up, the untitled Batman-Superman film.
Speaking with Israeli entertainment TV news show Erev Tov With Guy Pines in Hebrew, Gadot described how she learned she’d gotten the part and what it was like keeping it a secret. She also responded to criticism about her body.
Gadot said she learned she’d gotten the role from her agent, Hadas Lichtenstein, after she landed in New York on a flight from Israel, on her way to filming in L.A.
PHOTOS: How Hollywood Has Brought Wonder Woman to Life
“[My agent] says to me, ‘Wonder Woman!’ and I’m like, ‘What??’ – ‘The role is yours! … and it’s a secret and the news is not yet announced and you can’t tell anyone.’ I’m saying to her, ‘Are you serious??’ — and we both scream! Now it’s a plane from Israel to New York and I can’t make loud noise, and so I lean on a window, bending down to my legs, and just try to understand.”
Gadot then recounted the bizarre experience of having to keep the news a secret, saying that she was lying in the darkness in her hotel room in New York in disbelief about the part and also thinking that she should be able to celebrate.
“I was telling myself, ‘It’s not real!’ … it shouldn’t be like that, I’m supposed to be like … ‘Where’s the champagne?’ ” she said.
STORY: Warner Bros. Finds Its Wonder Woman for Batman-Superman Film
As for criticism that she’s too skinny and small-chested for the role, Gadot first dismissed that with a joke, saying, “Wonder Woman is a one-breasted Greek Amazonian woman, so if I were to really go ‘by the book’ — that would be a problem.”
She also argued that she “represent[s] the Wonder Woman of the new world.”
But she did admit that during her physical training regimen for the role, she’ll “gain body mass.”
Ben Affleck will star as Batman in the Zack Snyder-helmed film, while Henry Cavill and Amy Adams will reprise their roles from Man of Steel. The Warner Bros. movie is slated to open on July 17, 2015, with principal photography set to begin early next year in Michigan.
Watch Gadot’s full interview below.
heart for the idea of a strong, empowered female superhero being out there.””]