Actress Rachel Zegler explains how she dealt with hate after being cast as Disney’s new Snow White
Rachel Zegler has experienced a meteoric career since her 2021 debut as Maria History of the West Sidedirected by Steven Spielberg. Since then, he has played major roles such as that of a supervillain Shazam! The fury of the gods and continued with his presence in films such as the prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. However, it’s her upcoming role as a princess in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Snow White that has sparked a lot of controversy. and many conversations on social networks.
Over the course of his career, Zegler has faced several criticisms, especially regarding his involvement in the remake of snow Whitewhere some traditional Disney fans expressed their discontent after learning that a Latina actress was cast to play an originally white-skinned character. In a recent interview with Variety, the actress addressed these criticisms and explained what she hopes viewers take away from the film.
A new version of the Snow White story
In his conversation with Variety, Zegler noted that the film creates an alternate history to explain the princess’s name. In this version, Snow White survives a blizzard when she was little, and the king and queen decide to name her that as a reminder of her resilience.
One of the key points of the film, according to Zegler, is this conveys the message of inner strength to young women. “One of the key points of our film for every young person is to remember how strong you truly are,” the actress said.
Despite this new interpretation, the controversy surrounding Zegler and his role was intense. Many critics have focused their discontent on her choice as a Latina actress for such an emblematic character of European fairy tales. According to Zegler, this rejection comes from a place of misogyny and hatred.. The actress shared, “I’ve seen women get torn down my whole life, my whole career. We’ll continue to see this for a long time, I’m afraid.
Tackling online hate
Zegler learned to do it dealing with online hate, especially when it escalated after her casting as Snow White. The actress has adopted a strategy not to be publicly influenced by these negative comments, choosing not to leave social networks in those moments, as she believes that this gives too much power to criticism. “I don’t like giving them the satisfaction of knowing they hurt me right now,” he said.
This type of rejection is not new to Zegler. During the 2022 D23 Expo, the actress sparked controversy when criticized some elements of the original Disney animated film, which was not well received by some purist fans of the story. On that occasion, Zegler mentioned that the 1937 film had an approach that he described as “strange”, as it focused primarily on Snow White’s romance with the prince rather than her personal growth. As a result of these comments, Zegler faced a lot of hate on social media.
The role of love in the new Snow White
Despite all the noise surrounding his criticism of the original, Zegler clarified that the new version includes a love story, but that this will not be the focus of the film. “I never wanted to pigeonhole someone and say, ‘If you want love, then you can’t work,’ or ‘If you want to work, then you can’t have a family.’ It’s not true. “It’s never been true,” the actress said.
Zegler wants girls and women who watch the film to feel like they can “have it all,” without having to choose between their professional and personal aspirations.. Responding to criticism, the actress pointed out that many comments were taken out of context and that what was intended to say about the love story in Snow White was misinterpreted. “Romance has always been part of the film; “It just wasn’t what we were discussing at the time,” he explained.
Personal connections to the character
Beyond the controversies, the role of snow White has a special meaning for Zegler. The actress shared that the princess was her mother’s favorite growing up, as there were very few dark-haired princesses she could identify with. This highlights the power of representation on screen, something Zegler has carried with him throughout his career.
Zegler also stressed the importance of having different adaptations of classic characters, recalling how he grew up watching Brandy’s 1997 version of Cinderella. In her home, that was simply “Cinderella,” which showed her from an early age that iconic characters can be played by any actor and remain true to their essence.
The remake of snow White It won’t be an exact copy of the Disney classic, and that’s what Zegler finds exciting.. The film will also feature an all-star cast, including Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, Ansu Kabia as the Huntsman, Martin Klebba as Grumpy, and Andrew Burnap as Jonathan. With a release scheduled for March 21, 2025, it’s only a matter of time before fans see for themselves what this new approach has to offer.