Gal Gadot talks fan response, training, and her own reaction to being cast as Wonder Woman

There seems to be endless discussion over Isreali actress Gal Gadot for her casting as Wonder Woman in BATMAN VS SUPERMAN and rightly so, as it's the first big-screen treatment of the character and one that fanboys (and girls) have been looking forward to for decades. To say a lot is riding on it would be an understatement in that respect. Batman-News found a great interview with the actress on Good Evening with Gai Pines, an Israeli entertaiment show, where Gadot talks (in her native Hebrew) about the fan response, training, and her own reaction to scoring the role. Check out the transcription and video below.

Where were you when you heard the news that you’d been cast as Wonder Woman?

I was just on my way to shooting at LA. I landed at NY in a connection flight when my agent, Hadass Lichtenstein, called me. She says to me “Wonder Woman!” and I’m like “What??” – “The role is yours!…and it’s a secret and the news are 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 NY and I can’t make loud noise, and so I lean on a window, bending down to my legs, and just try to understand. Long story short – I was totally alone in NY, I got to a hotel at 12 pm, I needed to wake up in the morning for shootings. I remember laying in the darkness by myself, staring at the ceiling, and I was telling myself “It’s not real!”…it shouldn’t be like that, I’m supposed to be like… “where’s the champagne?”.

It’s been said that you’re too skinny for the part. Wonder Woman is large-breasted, is that going to change?

Hmm. I represent the Wonder Women of the new world. Breasts… anyone can buy for 9,000 shekels and everything is fine. By the way, Wonder Woman is amazonian, and historically accurate amazonian women actually had only one breast. So, if I’d really go “by the book”…it’d be problematic.

So you’re not going to gain a little weight and start eating carbs before filming begins?

It’s the physical preparations that I’m starting now. A very serious training regime – Kung Fu, kickboxing, swords, jujutsu, Brazilian…1,000 and 1 things…I’ll gain body mass.

Gadot will have to win over fans watching her transformation into a superhero with a microscope, but personally speaking I think she will do a fine job. Once she steps into GymJones (the gym and training team used by Zack Snyder for both 300 and MAN OF STEEL), I'm of complete faith that she will step out looking like an Amazon Princess that you would not want to f*ck with. She's got a great exotic look that fits well within Diana's from the comics and I like that she has an accent, which again fits the mold and I can't wait to see her in action.

BATMAN VS SUPERMAN hits theaters on July 17, 2015.