Gal Gadot stars as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action Snow White, a remake of their 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film was followed by controversy since its earliest stages of development, including the announcement of Rachel Zegler as the titular Snow White, and its lackluster box office performance didn’t help matters. Now Gadot is offering her own beliefs regarding the underperformance of the film, and she partially believes it’s due to pressure for Hollywood stars to speak out against Israel.
While Gadot has since clarified that she believes there still are other factors, and more on that below, the report first broke out when Toonado brought up an interview between Gadot and “amateur journalists who are on the autism spectrum,” in which she reveals her initial beliefs that Snow White was “going to be a huge success.” Gadot further claims “what’s happening in all kinds of industries and also in Hollywood, is that there’s a lot of pressure on celebrities to bring up things against Israel.”
She continued her thoughts when an interviewer called Snow White a “huge flop” at the box office:
“You can always explain and try to give people in the world a context about what’s happening [in Israel] and what the reality is here, but in the end people decide for themselves. I was disappointed that the movie was greatly affected by that and didn’t do well at the box office. But that’s how it goes. You win some, you lose some.”
This initial report went viral, including Gadot referring to her work with Zegler as “fun,” but Gadot has since attempted to expand her claims. While she still believes the issue with Israel is still a factor, she now admits that there are other reasons the film flopped as well as shared on her Instagram via CBM:
“I was honored to join an extraordinary interview with inspiring interviewers, whose questions go straight to the heart. Sometimes we respond to questions from an emotional place. When the film came out, I felt that those who are against Israel criticized me in a very personal, almost visceral way.”
“They saw me first and foremost as an Israeli, not as an actress. That’s the perspective I spoke from when I answered the question. Of course, the film didn’t fail solely because of external pressures. There are many factors that determine why a film succeeds or fails, and success is never guaranteed.”
There absolutely were quite a few factors that Snow White suffered when it failed at the box office, from controversies regarding co-stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, to the use of CGI rather than dwarf actors to represent the iconic seven dwarfs. Unfortunately, it never seemed destined to connect with modern audiences.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any further potential updates regarding this Disney title and any others as we have them. Likewise, now that Snow White has finally been released after years of development and production, we’ll have to see what directions Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler take their careers next.