Gal Gadot has taken to Instagram to backpedal on comments she made about why her film Snow White flopped at the box office.
Last week, Gadot made a remark on an Israeli TV show called The A Talks in which she claimed that the reason the live-action Disney film failed to bring in the big bucks was due to the “pressure” put on celebrities to speak out against Israel.
On Sunday, Gadot posted an Instagram Story to clarify her perspective.
“I was honoured to join an extraordinary interview with inspiring interviewers, whose questions go straight to the heart,” the Israeli actress wrote.
“Sometimes we respond to questions from an emotional place. When the film came out, I felt that those who are against Israel criticised 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.”
The 40-year-old Wonder Woman star admitted that there are many reasons why a film would fail.
“Of course, the film didn’t fail solely because of external pressures,” she continued.
“There are many factors that determine why a film succeeds or fails, and success is never guaranteed.”
The IG Story comes after Gadot was asked about the film — and the rumours that she clashed with her co-star Rachel Zegler on set — during an interview.
“I really enjoyed filming that movie, I really had fun”, the Israeli TV show The A Talks on Friday.
“Even working alongside Rachel Zegler. We laughed and we talked, we had fun. I was positive the movie was going to be a huge hit. And then Oct. 7 happened, and what happened all over in different industries, not just Hollywood, there was a lot of pressure put on celebrities, actors, creators to post against Israel.
“And it happened. I can always explain and try to give people in the world context about the situation and the reality in Israel, and I always do that. But at the end, people make up their own minds. And I was disappointed that the movie was incredibly affected by all of that and that it didn’t do well at the box office. But it is what it is, you win some, you lose some.”
Considering Snow White was created with a pre-marketing budget of $270 million USD ($414 million AUD approx.) and only received a $43.9 million USD ($67.3 million AUD approx.) at the box office, it really was a flop. But the film had been riddled with controversy from the get-go.
Gadot’s publicly pro-Israel stance clashed with Zegler’s publicly pro-Palestine position, sparking rumours of a feud between the two stars and a hell of a lot of discourse online.
Before the trailer was even out, Zegler sadly copped a lot of backlash for being a woman of colour cast in the role of Snow White. Even once the film was out for review, the critics didn’t have glowing things to say about the Disney film. However, Snow White does currently have a Rotten Tomatoes score of 70 per cent, so it’s not all bad.
If you do want to watch Snow White, you can check it out on Disney+.
