Gisele speaks her mind and then some

By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein, Globe Staff  |  March 31, 2009

If, by chance, Bridget Moynahan is a regular reader of Vanity Fair, she may want to skip the May issue. In fact, she may want to toss it into the trash. The actress is sure to be upset by comments supermodel Gisele Bundchen makes about her relationship with young "Johnny" - John Edward Thomas Moynahan - Moynahan's 1 1/2-year-old son with Tom Brady.

"I understand that he has a mom, and I respect that, but to me it's not like because somebody else delivered him, that's not my child," Bundchen says. "I feel it is, 100 percent. I want him to have a great relationship with his mom, because that's important, but I love him the same way as if he were mine. I already feel like he's my son, from the first day."

Hmmm. Bundchen calls the boy "a little angel . . . the sweetest, most cuddly, loving baby. I feel blessed to have him in my life." (We dropped Moynahan's publicist an e-mail yesterday, but he didn't respond.)

The 28-year-old Brazilian beauty, who's scantily clad on the cover and inside, is downright dishy in her sitdown with VF contributing editor Leslie Bennetts. Bundchen says she's never met Moynahan, and was taken aback to learn of the "I, Robot" actress's pregnancy not long after she'd taken up with the Pats QB.

"It was definitely a surprise," Bundchen says. "In the beginning you're living this romantic fantasy; you're thinking, This can't be true, it's so good! And then, whoops - wake-up call!"

But the world's wealthiest supermodel believes the pregnancy brought her and Brady closer.

"I think it was a blessing," she says. "Because otherwise I don't think I would have known what he was made of, and he wouldn't have known what I was made of. . . . It made me feel more in love with him; it made me realize who he was. Our relationship has become so much stronger, and I think I wouldn't be as certain as I am today if it weren't for that."

She goes on at length about Brady's charm, saying, "I knew right away - the first time I saw him. We met through a friend. The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, 'That is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I've ever seen!' We sat and talked for three hours. I had to go home for Christmas, but I didn't want to leave. You know that feeling of, like, you can't get enough? From the first day we met, we've never spent one day without speaking to each other. . . There is a great feeling that happens, that is telling you, I don't want to leave this room! Whatever that's called, that's what happened."

Speaking about her famous former boyfriend Leonardo Di Caprio, Bundchen says their split was inevitable.

"We know what we had; we were very young, and we grew together in a lot of ways," she says. "We were just not meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

Bundchen makes it clear she's not content to be a supermodel stepmom. She's hoping to have a large family of her own someday. That could include an adopted tot or two.

"When you come from São Paulo, you see 5-year-olds sniffing glue on the corner. You think, if you make a difference in the life of one of them, that makes your time on this earth worthwhile. I will have a colorful family, like a rainbow," she says. "I would like a big family. I love children. When you come from a big family, you see that growing up you're learning how to share. This is what I want to have in my life. This is why you get married - you want to create those roots together; you want to give that to your kids."

We also learn that Bundchen's crazy for kung fu.

"She wants it every day; we actually trained Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day. There's no day off," says Yao Li of the Boston Kung Fu Tai Chi Institute. "I think part of her has a macho spirit. Tom teases her: He's a fan of Bruce Lee movies, and he calls her Gise-Lee."

Brady isn't widely quoted in the piece, but he does have a few flattering things to say about the missus.

"She is the most positive and energetic person I have ever met," says the signal-caller. "She always looks at challenges as her greatest opportunities."

Her next one might be making nice with Moynahan.

Sans scrubs, "Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo and her husband, Chris Ivery, paid a visit to Children's Hospital Boston yesterday. The Everett-bred actress, who'll be attending the hospital's Women in Medicine Luncheon today, spent a ton of time talking to patients and their parents. Pompeo impressed us not only with her easy beside manner but also her knowledge of medicine. "It's from my job," said the TV doc. "They do so much to make that part of it authentic." Big basketball fans that they are, Pompeo and her husband were front and center at the C's game Sunday. "I love the Celtics, but we love NBA basketball," she said. "When we travel we go see games. The only thing I have to be that loyal to is my husband, everything else I can have more than one." Asked about Katherine Heigl's comment that Meredith and Derek might be getting hitched - on the show's 100th episode, no less - Pompeo grinned and said, "There's a wedding. . . . There's a setting that's a wedding, that's all I can say. I can't say who gets married. We're still working on the episode." The actress told us she's thankful for the show's longevity, and credited the fans for the show's success. "Sometimes it seems like a long time and other times, I think, 'Wow, where did the five years go?' It's a lot like life and I've learned to think that way - to appreciate that it's going by quickly. . . . Our fans are the real reason we're on the air. They are so supportive."

Global warming guru Al Gore spoke at the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre last night, part of "Speaker Series: The Minds That Move the World." (Bill Maher and Ann Coulter had a rousing good time a few weeks back.) These days, the former VP is chairman of Current TV, an independently owned cable and satellite nonfiction network based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism.

Globe correspondent Carol Beggy contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.