- New Snow White actress Rachel Zegler appeared at an early screening
- The star delivered an emotional speech amid film controversies
- Disney’s new live-action movie has earned glowing reviews
New Snow White actress Rachel Zegler has delivered an emotional speech during an early screening of Disney’s live action adaptation.
The film isn’t released until later this month but the movie has set jaws wagging for the past few months. Directed by The Amazing Spider-Man filmmaker Marc Webb, it has been plagued with controversy for a while now.
Read more: Snow White: Rachel Zegler praised by critics
From Peter Dinklage asking why the film was even being made, to its stars sharing conflicting views about world events. The live-action Snow White has become one of Hollywood’s biggest talking points of 2025 so far.
Read more: Why has Disney pulled the Snow White premiere?
With the film’s debut looming, Zegler has delivered an emotional speech thanking fans during an early screening.
What did Rachel Zegler say?
“This is a movie that is so close to my heart. I auditioned for this movie when I was 19 years old and I am about to turn 24,” said Zegler in a video that has since been released by Disney.
“So it’s a really big chunk of my life, and about five of the seven years of my career, which is crazy. I love everybody in this movie so dearly.”
Surprising fans, Zegler continued to explain that watching the movie come to life has been an “emotional” experience for her.
In fact, towards the end of her speech, Zegler was holding back tears. “To see this is really emotional for me so I’m going to try to not do that,” the star told the crowd.
Watch it below:
Snow White controversies explained
Disney’s Snow White controversies started before filming even began, with some fans taking umbrage with the casting of Latina actress Zegler in the leading role. In the original movie, Snow White was described as having skin “as white as snow.”
Criticism of the film intensified when Game of Thrones actor Dinklage – who has a form of dwarfism – went on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast and called the movie a “backwards story.” In response, Disney confirmed that they would be reimagining its title dwarves as magical beings using CGI animation.
Zegler received further flack when she shared criticisms of the original 1937 film, in particualar Snow White’s reliance on a Prince for salvation.
Finally, the actress has shared opposing political views to her co-star Gal Gadot who plays the film’s Evil Queen. These relate to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
What is the 2025 Snow White Rotten Tomatoes score?
With the film yet to hit cinemas, Disney’s live action Snow White film has yet to receive a Rotten Tomatoes score.
That said, early reactions towards the movie have been positive, with many praising it as one of the better Disney adaptations of recent years.
