‘Snow White' Actor Responds to Disney Movie's Premiere Pivot: 'They're Afraid'
Martin Klebba — who has appeared in two previous versions of Snow White, including the 2012 feature Mirror Mirror that stars Julia Roberts and Lily Collins — provides the voice of Grumpy in the new movie and also serves as an advisor for the miner characters. Klebba tells The Hollywood Reporter that the recent controversy surrounding Snow White, which has led to the film's Saturday premiere not inviting press onto the red carpet, has meant a less exciting celebration for those involved in the project that stars Rachel Zegler as the title character and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
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'It really isn't going to be a red carpet,' says Klebba, who emphasizes that he is very proud of the movie and cannot wait for audiences to see it. 'It's going to be at the El Capitan [Theatre], which is cool. But it's basically going to be a pre-party, watch the movie, and that's it. There's not going to be this whole hoopla of, 'Disney's first fucking movie they ever made.' Because of all this controversy, they're afraid of the blowback from different people in society.'
Klebba says that the premiere changes were due to 'the controversy with Rachel' but clarifies that he had not been given direct information on why the event was altered. Zegler is known as an outspoken star who suggested in 2022 that she was not a fan of the original 1937 animated classic due to outdated plot points. Additionally, after President Donald Trump was elected in November, Zegler posted comments to social media that were critical of his victory before later apologizing.
Back in 2022, before filming on the new Snow White had even begun, Peter Dinklage spurred debate when he criticized Disney for retelling 'that fucking backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.' According to Klebba, the film had already intended to use motion-capture animation for the seven miners in the film. As the voice of Grumpy, Klebba is the only little person to voice one of the seven dwarfs in the film.
'I don't usually get into the political stuff, but I [felt], 'Dwarfs aren't going to go away just because you can't imagine that they're there,'' Klebba explains. 'We're still going to be walking around. So I didn't get the whole stuff about not doing the dwarfs. The story's been around forever, and it's a classic.'
Klebba added that, given that the film was creating CGI animals, it also was the right call to use VFX for the dwarfs. 'If you guys go this route, it just makes sense to be able to draw them the way you want,' he says. 'This way, they're all the same size. And to find seven little people actors to pull it off, that's not an easy thing either.'
He also was surprised that the new film's title, Snow White, does not mention the dwarfs, as the 1937 version did. 'I wish they would've kept it,' Klebba says of including the dwarfs in the name. 'I wouldn't have gone away from that. But the marketing people know what they're doing.'
The actor is grateful to have now been in three film projects related to Disney theme park rides, in addition to his roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion franchises. As for a potential future Disney gig, Klebba says he would love to be considered to play the Marvel hero Puck, a comic book character with dwarfism.
'I've been waiting forever for somebody to write something for the Marvel Universe, instead of all these beautiful-looking guys like Chris Pratt — let's have somebody different,' quips Klebba, who stars with Pratt in the Netflix film The Electric State. 'Let's see some people that aren't exactly nature's wonder.'
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