Wonder Woman Director Patty Jenkins Responds to Praise from Hillary Clinton

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has received much praise for her blockbuster superhero movie — but there was one person whose reaction was especially noteworthy: Hillary Clinton, who named the film in a mass email. In the missive, she noted that it was “just as inspirational as I’d suspected a movie about a strong, powerful woman in a fight to save the world from international disaster would be.” (She also called Jenkins “fabulous” in a previous address.)

In a new interview with Cosmopolitan, Jenkins reflected on Clinton’s compliments. “It’s completely surreal! Those sorts of crossovers to the real world are surreal because there’s like two versions of me,” Jenkins explained. “There’s the me that’s like, ‘Wow! [Wonder Woman] is this [kind of icon] to so many people, so I’m not surprised.’ On the other hand, I’m like, ‘So… our film? Those things we did, those people have watched? Oh, my god!’ And I’m so honored that we’re being talked about by [Hillary Clinton] in this world.”

Jenkins recently defended her film after comments by Avatar director James Cameron, who said in another interview that Wonder Woman was not as revolutionary to the film industry as the hype suggested.

Regardless of Clinton or Cameron’s praise — or lack thereof — the Wonder Woman sequel has already been given the green light. It’s expected to hit theaters in late 2019, with Jenkins reportedly in negotiations to direct.

Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com.