Snow White star Rachel Zegler recently responded to criticism she's faced since being cast as the first Latin actor to portray the titular princess in Disney's upcoming live-action remake.
"Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me. You don't normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent," Zegler told fellow actor Andrew Garfield during a new interview with Variety. "Even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries. Blanca Nieves is a huge icon whether you're talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it."
The actor further detailed the backlash she's faced since being cast in the role, noting, "... You don't particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that. When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry."
However, Zegler continued, she plans to "love [the critics] in the right direction," adding, "At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I'm really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess."
It was announced in June 2021 that Shazam! Fury of the Gods and West Side Story star Zegler had been cast to play Snow White. "Rachel's extraordinary vocal abilities are just the beginning of her gifts," director Marc Webb said at the time. "Her strength, intelligence and optimism will become an integral part of rediscovering the joy in this classic Disney fairytale." It has since been confirmed that Gal Gadot will portray the Evil Queen and that Tony winner Andrew Burnap will serve as the male lead opposite Zegler.
While Disney's Snow White has yet to begin filming, Game of Thrones alum Peter Dinklage recently criticized the film for perpetuating stereotypes about people with Dwarfism. "Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you're still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the actor said during a recent podcast appearance. "Take a step back and look at what you're doing there. It makes no sense to me...You're progressive in one way, but then you're still making that fucking backwards [sic] story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the fuck are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I'm not loud enough."
Disney has since responded to Dinklage's comments, saying in a statement, "To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period."
Directed by Marc Webb, Disney's Snow White does not yet have a release date.