Rachel Zegler diplomatically addresses 'Snow White' skepticism: 'People are so passionate'

USA Today

28-02-2025

Rachel Zegler is being as diplomatic as a real-life princess when it comes to some fans' skepticism of the upcoming live-action remake of "Snow White" and, specifically, her participation in it.
"I interpret people's feelings about this film as passion for it — and what an honor to be able to be a part of something that people are so passionate about," she said in a cover story for Vogue Mexico, which was written in Spanish and published online Monday. "We're not always going to have the same feelings as everyone around us, and all we can do is give it our best."
Last year, the "West Side Story" breakout star received an avalanche of backlash — which she described as "nonsensical discourse" — for comments she'd made a year prior about how the remake would be different from the classic 1937 animated film.
There was also resistance from some factions of Disney fans who pointed out the character was supposed to be "white as snow," while Zegler is Colombian and Polish. Others expressed distaste in the reimagining of the "Seven Dwarfs" from the nearly century-old animated feature.
Nearly three years after she made these statements about "Snow White," which releases March 21, Zegler has a less controversial answer for what to expect from the film.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
"It's really important for audiences to know that Disney has found this beautiful, delicate balance between taking the animated classic that everyone knows and loves from 1937, and at the same time introducing it to this new generation," she told Vogue Mexico.
She also noted how far she's come since she filmed the Disney movie in 2022.
"You learn a lot more as a performer, as an actor and as a person when you go back to that set where you were 20, 21 and now you're 22 or 23, you can bring everything you've learned back and spice it up in your performance," she said of re-shoots that were reportedly done for "Snow White."
She added, "It's a great period of metamorphosis, thinking about who I was when I auditioned and who I am now, it's incredible.'
What has Rachel Zegler said about 'Snow White?'
At the 2022 D23 Expo, the Disney "fan event" that takes place near Disneyland in Southern California every year, Zegler told Extra: "The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so."
She added, "There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn't do that this time."
"It's no longer 1937," Zegler told Variety on that same red carpet. "She's not going to be saved by the prince, and she's not going to be dreaming about true love; she's going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true."
In a Vanity Fair interview published the following month, Zegler doubled down: "People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White, where it's like, yeah, it is − because it needed that."
She added, "It's an 85-year-old cartoon, and our version is a refreshing story about a young woman who has a function beyond 'Someday My Prince Will Come.'"
'It made me sad':Rachel Zegler addresses backlash to her 'Snow White' comments
Two years later, Zegler admitted that these negative comments had taken a toll on her in an October profile in Variety.
"In all honesty, it made me sad that it was taken in such a way, because I believe that women can do anything. But I also believe that they can do everything," she said, explaining that she'd intended to say Snow White has her sights set on achievements beyond finding love.
"I would never want to box someone in 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. It can be very upsetting when things get taken out of context or jokes don't land," Zegler continued. "The love story is very integral. A lot of people wrote that we weren't doing [that storyline] anymore — we were always doing that; it just wasn't what we were talking about on that day."
The "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" star, who recently took her final bow in Sam Gold's "Romeo + Juliet" on Broadway, is looking forward to more theater work in the future.
"I want to go back and do something on Broadway again as soon as humanly possible," she told Vogue Mexico. "I have so many things going on that I can't tell anyone yet."
Contributing: Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY