Rachel Zegler Recalls Snow White Casting Backlash: “People Were Angry”

There are a lot of strong feelings swirling around Disney’s forthcoming live-action retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Just ask its star, Rachel Zegler. The Golden Globe–winning West Side Story ingenue recently sat down with fellow Golden Globe–winner Andrew Garfield for Variety’s Actors on Actors panel, where she discussed the internet kerfuffle surrounding her casting in the titular role because she’s Latina.

“When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry,” Zegler told Garfield.  “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. 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. But you don’t particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that.”

Zegler’s casting has not been the only conversation sparked by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Last week, Emmy-winner Peter Dinklage took the film to task for retelling a “fucking backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.” In his criticism regarding the potential representation of dwarfism in film, he insinuated that Zegler’s casting represented a double standard. “I was a little taken aback they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White,” he said on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast. “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.”

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney addressed Dinklage’s concerns, stating, “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.”

The Snow White remake will be directed by Marc Webb, and costars Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen and Tony-winner Andrew Burnap in an undisclosed role. As for the backlash regarding her casting, Zegler has a message for her detractors: “We need to love them in the right direction.”

“At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I’m really excited to do,” Zegler said. “I get to be a Latina princess.”

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