Movies

Gal Gadot and Chris Pine say their chemistry made filming Wonder Woman 1984 feel 'like a dance'

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Published on December 23, 2020 11:00AM EST

Patty Jenkins had a classic movie in mind while directing Gal Gadot and Chris Pine in Wonder Woman 1984.

"I remember Patty kept saying on the first one, 'Casablanca, Casablanca, Casablanca,'" Gadot reveals for EW's digital cover. "There is something in their love story that is so timeless and classic."

Ahead of the blockbuster's release on Christmas Day, Jenkins and the stars of the film talk about bringing Diana and Steve's romance to life in EW's exclusive video.

Even though the iconic 1942 film was an inspiration, Gadot says their movie is a unique love story of its own, thanks to her natural partnership with Pine.

"With Chris, it was super organic and it was such an easy back-and-forth, it felt like a dance," the actress says. "We didn't even feel like we were recreating something, we felt like we created it on the spot."

It's surprising, then, to learn that the two actors never had a chemistry test before signing on for 2017's Wonder Woman. Jenkins says Gadot was first tapped to star in the movie, and she was so confident about Pine that she "never got to get them together."

"I was just so sure that he was the one that it wasn't really until I was on set and then you saw the two of them together that you saw how great," Jenkins adds. "I don't know that anybody ever expected that they would be so great that I think that they're one of the great onscreen romances."

Part of what makes Diana and Steve's relationship so special, Pine says, is that his character is never threatened by her powers and is only there to be her "greatest, most undying fan."

On set, too, Gadot says she and Pine got along swimmingly.

"We laughed so much all the time, like literally, and I'm the easiest to break," she says. "I'm super easy to get to laugh. He literally calls me 'Giggles Gadot.'"

Pine sings his costar's praises, saying that she is "truly what you see is what you get."

"That kind of bubbly, bright, loving, kind, curious person is really who Gal is," he says. "I was just continually blown away out of the first [film], and even more in the second."

And luckily, when it comes to chemistry with new additions Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal, Gadot says "we all clicked."

"We got so lucky because if there's no chemistry on set, or if it becomes about people and not about the project then it can be very, very hard," she says. "But with us, it wasn't about ourselves, we were all there for the greater good of this character and this story, and we gave everything that we had every day."

Watch the full video, which also includes snippets from the movie, above.

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