- Zegler said the backlash relates to people’s “passion” for the character
- She received abuse when the casting was first announced
- The film is out at the end of March
For a family film, the live action adaptation of Disney’s Snow White has proved rather controversial.
As soon as Rachel Zegler was confirmed to be playing the titular princess, she received racist abuse for playing a character with skin “as white as snow”. She is of Colombian and Polish descent.
Read more: Live action Snow White controversy explained
Some raised eyebrows over the political differences in the cast too, with the pro-Palestine Zegler starring opposite Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. In response, Palestinian groups have called for a boycott of the movie.
There was further backlash when it was revealed that only one actor was cast to play the dwarves.
Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, who has dwarfism, appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast to dub the fairytale a “backwards story”.
He continued that he “was a little taken aback when [Disney] were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you are still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
What has Rachel Zegler said?
Zegler’s now had her say on the controversies, believing it’s reflective of how much people care about the original story.
“I interpret people’s feelings about this film as their passion for her,” she told Vogue Mexico in Spanish, “and what an honor to be a part of something for which people feel so much passion. We’re not always going to have the same sentiments as those around us and all that we can do is give the best of ourselves.”
She also referenced how the film has modernised the Snow White story.
“It’s very important for the audience to know that Disney has found this beautiful and delicate equilibrium between the 1937 animated classic that everyone knows and loves, and at the same time, presents it to this new generation.”
What else do we know about Snow White?
The film will be in theaters from 21 March.
Read more: What we know about Disney’s live action Snow White
Disney has remained tight-lipped about plot details but the cast has been open about some of the ways it differs from the original. For starters, Gadot shared that she will be singing her own songs. This is interesting because the 1938 edition doesn’t feature any songs for her character.
Zegler has also made great effort to point out how it will be de-centring the love story. She dubbed this move “wonderful”.
