"Because I am the daughter of": Meshi Kleinstein responds to the critics

Welcome to the opening shot of "7 Boom" - the new weekend corner of Maariv Culture, where we sit down with the most fascinating figures in the entertainment industry for a short, sharp, and filter-free conversation. Every week we will bring you the stories behind the scenes, the moments that didn't make it into the frame, and the most honest answers about the professional and personal path.

Our first corner is opened by Meshi Kleinstein, one of the most successful and respected actresses and voice actresses in Israel. She is long past being just "the daughter of" Rita and Rami Kleinstein. After conquering every possible stage, starring in television series, lending her voice to Disney princesses, and collecting praise from end to end, she is now taking the most exciting and significant step in her career: embarking on an independent path as a singer and creator with her first single "Tell Me" from a full album under the artistic management of Gadi Gidor.

What is the first thing or song you must have with you to start the day?

"The truth is that my alarm clock is the beginning of the song 'Good Night' from 'The Sixteenth Sheep', first of all because I am deeply in love with this album, and I wanted to choose the calmest and most pleasant song possible to wake up with. It's true that it's a good night song, but it feels the most embracing to me, and also I don't want anyone at home to wake up if I have to get up and they don't."

What is the work (movie, song, play, or book) that changed your life or made you cry?

"When I saw the musical 'Waitress' on Broadway, it was a moment I will never forget, because I decided that I must play this role and sing these songs, and indeed after 8 years it happened. I tried to convince a producer to bring it to Israel and he didn't want to, and in the end he bought the rights and then I met him for coffee and told him to let me audition, later he didn't want to give me an audition, and the roles were already cast, and then a miracle happened and there was a mess, and following that, the rights moved from one theater to another, and it turned out that a week after I gave birth to Yonatan, I got a call and they offered me to play Jenna, a dream come true."

Was there one moment on the way where you realized: 'That's it, it's happening, I did it?'

"There were many such moments. The moment they told me I was accepted to dub Rapunzel in 'Tangled'. A new Disney princess! Another moment: the moment I got a lead role in the series 'Bat-El the Virgin', and this also happened when I got Maria in 'West Side Story', and finally, when I gave birth to my children, that was the most 'I did it' in the world!"

Which role, song, or project did you give up on and then regret?

"Wow, I never gave up on something and regretted it later. There were plenty of things I didn't get, and then I was disappointed that I didn't get them. But there is an amazing word that Mili, my mother's personal assistant, who has been with us since I was half a year old, and she is like my second mother, always tells me: 'Mazlika' (lucky). She says that I have luck and I have protection, and what is mine is mine and what is not mine is not mine, and that is what is supposed to be. So every time I get disappointed I tell myself - 'I am Mazlika, it must be for my own good'."

What is the habit you have just before going on stage / to the set?

"I don't have any habits except checking that the children are okay. I know there are plenty of superstitions, but I don't believe in such things, and I really don't think it's worth adopting such a thing, even if you can, because it becomes a dependency. Once I was with someone who treats energies and she told me that I must put a safety pin in my bra; but it doesn't seem logical to me to walk around all my life with a safety pin in my bra, and also what will happen if I suddenly forget to put it on? Will it bring me bad things? I prefer not to get into it at all."

What is the most detached or annoying thing that was written/said about you, and how did they react at home?

"I don't know if it's the most annoying but it's what came up for me now. Once someone wrote about me that I take all the Disney princess roles from everyone and it's because I am 'the daughter of'. And it's so detached because to get accepted to play a Disney princess you have to do auditions like everyone else in the world, and that Disney abroad will hear all the auditions, and choose you from among everyone, and after all they have no idea who I am."

If you could do a collaboration now with any person in Israel - who would you choose?

"I would choose Noam, my sister. Because she is the most amazing artist that exists, she has the music that I love to listen to the most and she is also a great person."

Kleinstein's return to her inner voice and the choice to release original material right now is not accidental. It is a maturation process of an artist who was not afraid to pay the debt of proof in every field she touched, and now arrives in the music world from her most mature and distilled place. The new single marks the starting shot for an intriguing project that brings a fresh breeze to Israeli music, and proves that even after years in the heart of the consensus - her story as Meshi is just beginning.