Gal Gadot & Kumail Nanjiani Reflect on Media Representation & What Their Roles Mean to Other People

Gal Gadot and Kumail Nanjiani are on the cover of Variety‘s Actors on Actors issue, out on newsstands now.

Here’s what the 32-year-old and 39-year-old actors had to say:

Gal on her alternative plans for her career: “I never planned on becoming an actress, and then I had this opportunity where this casting director flew to Israel; she was looking for a new Bond girl. I did the audition, didn’t get the part, but through this experience I was like, ‘This is so much more interesting than going to law school.’”

Kumail on his representation in the media: “I feel very privileged to get to play, as a brown man, a kind of part that we haven’t really seen in American pop culture too much. I think the answer is that we have to show that there’s no one real image of brown people. We wanted to just tell our story, but it’s been interesting that you see a brown guy in a rom-com. I think seeing brown people in different contexts in America is just going to show people … they’re just people. My wife wanted to have a website called Muslims Having Fun, and it’s just pictures of Muslim people eating popsicles or riding roller coasters. You don’t see that so much.”

Gal on her own impact by playing Wonder Woman: “I get really emotional and excited when it’s little kids. To them, I’m not Gal. To them, I’m Diana. I’m Wonder Woman. It’s funny how this movie was so broad, touched different people, different ages, different cultures. I got photos from people that I work with or friends that their grandparents went to see it with their wheelchair and everything. It’s been really overwhelming. Right now, in the eye of the storm, I enjoy it and I appreciate the amazing feedback. But I think that it’s going to take me time to really digest and realize what’s happening.”

For more from Gal and Kumail, head to Variety.com.