Gal Gadot recently bonded with actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani, star, director, and writer of The Big Sick. The two interviewed each other for Variety, where they both reminisced over the fact that they have names people often mispronounce and have to deal with their parents’ intense expectations, especially as immigrants.
Nanjiani immediately pointed out their commonality: “We’re both immigrants. We play immigrants in our movies.” While this may seem obvious, it sheds light not only on their personal lives, but the lives of how immigrants are perceived — both because of their films and the reactions to them from fans and critics alike.
It’s also amazing to see in a time of political divide and strife across cultures and beliefs Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American, and Gadot, an Israeli, come together and just have a good talk and laugh. Despite their differences, and the political turmoil that exists between both groups, there is incredible similarity.
Gadot jumped in, adding, “We both get asked all the time, ‘How do I pronounce your name?’” Gadot went on to add how acting in a major film as a lead female character is important for her, especially as a mom of two girls:
Having two girls, I can only hope that this is not just a trend. Now, because we did well at the box office, I hope that there’s going to be more female-led stories that everyone can enjoy because at the end of the day, I enjoyed so many male-led stories. We’re talking about representation, so on Earth there’s 50-50 men and women, and it should be the same on film, on TV, on everywhere.
Watch Nanjiani and Gadot in conversation below:
