Brazilian model, activist, and businesswoman
Gisele Caroline Bündchen (born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian model, activist, and businesswoman. Since 2001, Bündchen has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, she was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, Bündchen was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modeling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011. In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire". Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
PassionMy intention in making a comment about the importance of breastfeeding has nothing to do with the law. It comes from my passion and beliefs about children.
New YorkIn 1996, the possibility of going to New York came up. From then on, I started searching for opportunities on the international market and the plane became my home.
New YorkWhen I came to New York and I opened the window of the thirty-fifth-floor apartment, there's light pollution and fog, and I couldn't see my star. So I drew it on my wrist with a pen, but it kept washing away. Then I went to a tattoo parlor on Second Avenue and had it done.
HappinessI don't like Paris so much, and it's only eight shows. I mean, don't tell them that, of course. But everyone always thinks they're so important. And I'm sure they are. But to me, my happiness is more important.
MarriageWhen I'm weak, you can be strong; when I'm strong, you can be weak. That's what I believe marriage is.
FreedomI was somebody who was 14 years old and who got an opportunity to do a job where I could make money, and, most important, to go to school and to help my family financially. And luckily I was successful in my job, thank God. And there were a lot of people my age who didn't have that freedom I had and I'm grateful.
HappinessIf you are happy, you can give happiness. If you don't love yourself and if you are unhappy with yourself, you can't give anything else but that.
BeautyWomanI love that feeling of, you know, we are women, we are so different, our imperfections are what make us unique and beautiful.
BeautyBeauty is something inside of us. If you love yourself and accept yourself, that shows on the outside. Beauty is an act-it's how you carry yourself.
Be yourselfI think it's better when you're natural, when you just do whatever you want, instead of doing classes where I see all these other people holding back because they've been trained with certain skills or techniques. I'm like, whatever.
I feel privileged to be a U.N. ambassador. It gives me an opportunity to use my voice to help raise awareness about important social and environmental issues.
To be a mother is a magical experience. The whole body is transformed by this.
This is exactly how I would describe my work: 'I get there, I put on the clothes, I leave it on the hanger, and I go home.' And that's what I do.
Always, always powder your T-zone and the lines going from your nose down around your mouth so you don't look like a bulldog. When those areas are shiny, it's awful. And gloss will keep your lips from appearing dehydrated.
There's a button that goes On and I'm On. And when I go On, there is almost no me; there is just a character who is doing all this.
When I was a teenager, I had pimples - oh, God, every time someone looked at my face I thought they were looking at my pimples. I put mud on my face to dry them out, and it worked.
You know, everyone says, 'Modeling and acting are so similar'... they say, 'It's so natural for models to become actresses because they use the camera.' I don't think of it in that way.
I want to have a big family. My parents have been together for 36 years, and that is what I want. I am in that place. It's all good in that part of my life. It's one part of my life that I'm learning about every day. I've been challenged a lot by it, but it's the most rewarding part.
Sometimes siblings can get in each other's space.
Some people here think they don’t have to breastfeed, and I think, ‘Are you going to give chemical food to your child, when they are so little?’ There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months.
It's unfortunate that in an interview sometimes things can seem so black and white.
I'm one of these people that likes adrenaline and new things, like extreme sports. It makes me feel alive.
It's all about the light. Always face it, because that's how you give your face good angles. If you're outside when the sun is overhead, you're going to have dark circles from the sun creating shadows on your face. So no outdoor pictures between 12 and two!
I felt like my pregnancy was a sacred moment for me. I stayed in Boston and I didn't work apart from the contracts I have, and then I only let them use my face.
I never really thought about being an actress or being anything like that. I was always a bit scared as well because of the thing about models becoming an actress and all that.
I think people have a different image of me because, you know, they portray me with the idea that models are stupid and dumb; like, 'She can just be a model because she can just be a model - she's dumb and she can't do anything else.'
I was in the fashion shows in Milan; I was seventeen, I was doing like 100 shows. People were asking, 'How does it feel to be the model of the moment?' It was hard for me to answer as myself. I barely spoke English.
I believe that bringing a life into this world is the single most important thing a person can undertake, and it can also be the most challenging. I think as mothers we are all just trying our best.
I've always been in serious relationships. I meet someone and date him for a long period. I don't sit there thinking, like, 'I wonder if I can seduce that guy.' I have other things in my mind.
If I honour my needs first, I will be the best wife, the best mum, the best sister, the best friend. I have to come first, because then everyone benefits.
If you're wearing smoky eye makeup, a little beige or gold pencil on the inner eye corners will open up the area, but you only want to do it if the shadow is really dark. Otherwise, light pencil makes your eyes look too far apart, like a fish.
It was like two different photographers, and shot in three different locations and it was really fun to do. There were 12 beautiful girls in it. It was great.
I'm not an actress, you know. I don't know what's going on. And I'm supposed to be the villain.
I'm not a potato sack; I've never sat on my couch. If I'm home, I'm cleaning, feeding my dogs, doing stuff. Life is too precious to waste time.
I'm a workaholic. I've been doing my job for a long time.
Brazil has its own fashion identity. Many very talented Brazilian designers show every season at Sao Paulo and Rio fashion weeks.
Everyone has an hour in their day to go and do something for somebody else; I don't care how busy they are.
Nature is where I feel most comfortable; it's where I find my balance. I would like my kids and all future generations to have the chance to experience nature as I did.
My husband can not f****ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.
Breathing is my best ally. By doing simple breathing exercises, I can quickly come back to center and feel more grounded.
I feel like when people judge me they're not judging me, because they don't know who I am.
Cleaner, more sustainable energy is possible and can transform our lives, our economies, and our planet.
We must make living in harmony with the Earth a priority. This is our home... the only one we have!
My complexion is delicate, so I have to use things that won't irritate it. I switch moisturisers often.
Sometimes when you are a great mom, you're not so great at your job. And then when you're good at your job, you're not so great of a mom or a good wife. It's a dance that never stops. But it's beautiful.
I'd be lying if I said, 'No,' to wanting a lot of kids.
I'm very interested in charities. I help a lot of different charities.
I don't like parties. I prefer something more intimate, just for the closest people.
I love outdoor sports, like volleyball, and I play them whenever I can.
I am not the first person to give birth naturally. Billions of other women have come before me and have done this - so why can't I do it?
I love kids. It's amazing that I have the opportunity to hang out with my stepson all the time.
Because I had my family, I felt like I could be a bird and fly and experience and do. Because I had roots somewhere, I knew that they would love me no matter what, and I could always go back home and they were going to love me.
It was my first scene. My first day. We could have started with me drinking a beer, something a little less than having Barbies touching each other. But they started with that.
My son is so fortunate, you know. He's always going to have food. Yes, my children are going to be privileged, but that's why it's so important for them to see different realities and to travel, and they do already.
People have a perception of me because of Victoria's Secret that I'm sexy, but I'm not a sexy girl. I'm very tomboyish.
Children are like little angels - there's no way you can't love them.
I don't think anyone likes to see a picture of themselves in a tabloid, besides a couple people who I'm not going to mention. I'm definitely not one of those people.
I'm a very sensitive person, and I feel what makes me vulnerable. But I see that as a good thing. I really enjoy experiencing all the different emotions in life.
My dream was to be either a volleyball player or a veterinarian.
If you have your wife, and you are proud of something she's done, wouldn't you go and support her in something? That is what I was trying to do.
For me the end of the year is always a time to reflect and recharge my energies.
I am a huge fan of big cotton underpants; they're comfortable. I wear them every day.
I feel grateful because I have a lot of love in my life. I found the person I'm sharing my life with. I have a good man.
Christmas and the holidays are the season of giving. It's a time when people are more kind and open-hearted.
No matter how many shows I've done, as soon as they say it's time to start, I get that nervous sensation and feel like I have to pee. So that's where my mind is. That and making it to the end of the runway and back as fast as I can.
I cannot put this poison on my skin. I do not use anything synthetic.
I was eating lots of vegetables and fruit every day during my pregnancy - my baby needed the best of the best, so it was the opposite of overeating. I had this being inside of me, and I was responsible for everything he got.
People think if you look after yourself you're being selfish, you know.
I feel like life is so special and so great, every year I feel like I learn more, and I grow, and I think it's exciting to grow up.
I'm a woman trying to balance family, work and friends like so many others out there.
I did kung fu up until two weeks before Benjamin was born, and yoga three days a week. I think a lot of people get pregnant and decide they can turn into garbage disposals. I was mindful about what I ate, and I gained only 30 pounds.
Climate change is real. In order to alter this reality, we need all hands on deck.
There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months.
Everybody learns from traveling. I think we all do.
I don't wear fur and I understand their cause. I am the biggest animal lover in the world. I have four dogs and two horses, and I have rescued animals all my life.