Latin actress, Disney’s new “Snow White”, speaks of criticism for her casting

The actress Rachel Zegler responded to criticism of her casting as Snow White in yet another Disney live-action. Speaking to actor Andrew Garfield for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series of interviews, she said it was necessary to “love your detractors despite your differences.”

“Never in a million years did I imagine this role would be a possibility for me,” said Rachel, who is of Colombian descent. “Especially Snow White: In general, you don’t see Snow Whites who are of Latino descent.”

Rachel’s choice came under fire from some who questioned why a Latina actress was playing a character famous for having “skin as white as snow”.

The 20-year-old actress’ casting for the role was announced in June of last year, with production set to begin this year under director Marc Webb’s helm. The actress said that the same week, her casting topic was among the most talked about topics on Twitter, “because all the people were angry.”

Rachel also said that the character of Snow White, or “Blancanieves” in Spanish, has always been culturally significant to the Latino community and seen as a “great icon”.

“At a certain point, you have to turn everything off and think: if I’m not going to read what’s bad, I’m not going to read what’s good either, and just believe what I believe,” he said in the interview.

Rachel Zegler rose to fame after playing the role of Maria in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 adaptation of “Love, Sublime Love,” for which she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

The film stood out for casting Latino actors in Latino roles, and Rachel revealed at the time about the importance of properly representing the people the story takes place. The previous version of “Amor, Sublime Amor” cast white actors as Latino characters.

The actress also addressed the “privilege” she has in the film industry as a white Latina woman, who is “considered more palatable to many audiences and the people at the forefront of these productions.” And that she feels a “real responsibility” to “let young Latinas and young Latinos everywhere know that their dreams can be realized – that there are roles for us.”

The “Snow White” remake was criticized for other reasons as well, with actor Peter Dinklage saying that the story “about seven dwarfs living together in a cave” should be updated.

“I was a little surprised when they were so proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White,” Dinklage said on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast last month. “You’re still telling the story of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’.”

Disney’s live-action remake follows others in the same vein, including 2015’s “Cinderella” starring Lily James and 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” starring Emma Watson.

Source: CNN Brasil

You may also like