Gal Gadot blames 'pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel' for Snow White's box-office struggles

The Israeli actress said she was confident the film would be 'a huge success'

Gal Gadot served in the Israeli Defence Forces before launching her Hollywood career. AFP

Gal Gadot said the “pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel” contributed to the poor box-office performance of the Disney live-action Snow White.

Appearing on Thursday’s episode of the Israeli TV show, The A Talks, the actress said she “really enjoyed filming this movie” and had been confident it would be “a huge success”.

Gadot said she enjoyed working with her co-star Rachel Zegler, despite the media reports around the film’s release that suggested there was tension between the two actresses for their clashing political views, specifically Zegler’s pro-Palestine stance and Gadot’s outspoken support for Israel.

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Gadot, who served in the Israel Defence Forces as part of her mandatory military service before launching her Hollywood career, said that her time with Zegler on set was positive.

“We laughed, we talked and it was fun. I was sure that this movie was going to be a huge success,” she said.

Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in a scene from Snow White. Disney

“And then October 7 happened, and what’s happening in all kinds of industries, and also in Hollywood, is that there’s a lot of pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel. I was disappointed that the movie was greatly affected by that and didn’t do well at the box office.”

Snow White was reportedly cost $270 million to make. The film had a lukewarm opening weekend, and went on to under perform significantly, ultimately grossing about $205 million worldwide and failing to recoup its production and marketing costs.

There have been no official statements from Disney regarding the specific impact of the geopolitical issues on the film’s performance.

Snow White was also negatively received by most critics. It has a score of 38 per cent on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics consensus reading: “Snow White is hardly a grumpy time at the movies thanks to Zegler's luminous star turn, but its bashful treatment of the source material along with some dopey stylistic choices won't make everyone happy, either.”