Gisele Bündchen Was "Used to Being Bullied" Before She Became a Supermodel

The 35-year-old, the highest-paid fashion model in the world, talked about her childhood in an interview with The New York Times that was posted Saturday

Before she was the highest-paid fashion model in the world, Gisele Bündchen was bullied for her looks.

The 35-year-old, whose annual earnings are estimated to be $44 million, according to Forbes, talked about her childhood in an interview with The New York Times that was posted Saturday.

"Even before I got into the business, I was used to being bullied because I was always tall and skinny and stuck out," Gisele said. "I got really red all the time from playing volleyball, red like a pepper. So I thought bullying was just the way life is."

 

 

Gisele had said in an interview with Charlie Rose last November that she was bullied a lot when she was in school.

"I was 5'11" at 14. It wasn't fun," she said. "Like everybody made fun of me. Every time I go in the slow dance, like nobody wanted to dance with me. Seriously, I was this much taller than everyone in my class, you know."

Gisele said her peers called her Olive Oyl, named after the cartoon character Popeye's skinny girlfriend.

"It was really mean," she said, adding, "And when you are young, you feel really awkward, right. You are 14 years old. You don't need any help feeling awkward."

Gisele also said her fraternal twin sister Patricia Bündchen was shorter than her at the time.

"She was like everybody—you know, she had the same height as everybody else," she said. And I just felt like I was bullied a lot in school." 

Gisele initially wanted to be a volleyball player. But one day, an Elite modeling agency scout discovered her at a shopping mall in São Paulo, while she was on a school trip.

She launched a modeling career and would later land major fashion campaigns and magazine covers.

But Gisele still drew criticism for her looks after she began her modeling career.

"In the beginning, you know, everyone told me, 'Your eyes are too small, the nose is too big, you can never be on a magazine cover,'" she told The New York Times. "But, you know what? The big nose is coming with a big personality."

Gisele had made similar comments to People magazine in April, saying, "I remember some people telling me my nose was too big or my eyes were too small, that I could never be on a magazine cover...It wasn't easy to be 14 and hear that kind of criticism. It made me feel insecure."

Gisele said her father told her, "Next time, tell them, 'I have a big nose and that comes with a big personality.'"

"At that point I felt, if I kept working hard and giving my best, it would all work out," she said.