Disney's 'Snow White' Remake: Rachel Zegler Hits Back at Critics Who Slammed the Studio for Casting a Latina Actress

By Joshua Summers First Posted: Feb 01, 2022 02:12 AM EST

Rachel Zegler hits back at critics who slammed plans for a Disney live-action remake of "Snow White" with the Latina actress playing the main character.

Zegler opened up with actor Andrew Garfield for Variety's Actors on Actors roundtable, where she blasted the "hate" that she and the production received for casting a Latina to play the role of "Snow White."

Latin Actress Rachel Zegler On Critics of Disney's 'Snow White' Live-Action

Rachel Zegler candidly recalled with actor Andrew Garfield how the issue trended on social media, saying that "all of the people were angry" when she was cast to play Snow White in the upcoming Disney film.

Zegler told Garfield that when it was announced, "it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days." The actor then responded that those people who were spreading hate need to be "educated" and need to be brought into "awareness."

The "West Side Story" star then agreed with Garfield, saying that those who criticized her race should be given love "in the right direction."

Zegler underscored that despite the hate, she was still excited to play the role that would give her a chance to become a "Latina princess." She also opened up that she did not imagine that she would be cast as "Snow White."

"Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me. You don't usually see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries," the Latina actress noted.

Zegler then cited the 2012 black-and-white Spanish film "BlancaNieves" based on the 1812 fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm.

The Latina actress noted that "BlancaNieves is a huge icon," whether it was the Disney cartoon or any other iterations of the story, the Grimm fairy tale, and all the stories that come with it.

"But you don't particularly see people who look like me playing roles like that," Zegler said.

At present, the 20-year-old Colombian-American actress said she was just excited to do a job that she's "really excited to do," which is to be a Latina princess.

Peter Dinklage on Disney's 'Snow White' Live-Action

Among the critics of the upcoming "Snow White" live-action was "Game of Thrones" star, Peter Dinklage, telling podcaster Marc Maron that the remake was "f***ing backwards."

Dinklage noted that he was a "little taken aback" when it was announced that an actress of Latin descent would be stepping into the iconic role of Snow White.

"You're still telling the story of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' Take a step back and look at what you're doing there. It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way and you're still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together," Dinklage noted.

In June, it was revealed that Marc Webb will direct "Snow White." At that time, sources told Deadline that Rachel Zegler would star as the lead role in Disney's new live-action adaptation of the fairly tale.

Webb lauded Zegler's ability and said she would be an "integral part" of the film. The entirety of the cast of the upcoming Disney live-action film is still unclear.

However, reports noted that Gal Gadot would play as the Evil Queen, while Andrew Burnap as a newly created male lead character. Production is scheduled to take place this year.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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