Credit: Rachel Zegler / SAG-AFTRA / Splash NewsRachel Zegler has been under fire in the media lately, and now, she is publicly acknowledging her stance in the entire ordeal.
In the past, Disney has been known to remove actors from their franchises if bad publicity was at hand; now, reports are claiming that they have done this with their upcoming Snow White live-action film following the large amounts of scandal and drama that the film is undergoing before a trailer has even been released. Rachel Zegler is publicly commenting on it via social media.
If you have been following the live-action Snow White drama as of late, you know that many Disney fans are not too happy with the lead actor Rachel Zegler who has shown a lot of hatred towards the original storyline of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film that kicked off Walt Disney’s entry into the world of feature films in 1937 has remained beloved for years, so when Disney announced that they would be making a live-action of the first ever Disney princess, many were excited.
Disney cast Latina actress Rachel Zegler in the role, and although her ethnicity did cause a little backlash considering Snow White’s skin is meant to be “as white as Snow”, many were happy with the casting choice as Zegler had recently shared her singing chops as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
People from all over have slammed her for her irreverent takes on the original film, as well as the fact that she is a non-white person playing Snow White. And while she has numerous attackers on social media, but also, some who have stood up for her including Halle Bailey who played Ariel in The Little Mermaid and is no stranger to harsh criticism, as well as Disney legend Tim Rice.
Tim Rice is one of the most successful lyricists in the history of musical theatre, working with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, and Alan Menken to create such classics as Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), Evita (1976), Beauty and the Beast (1994), Aida (2000), and the stage adaptation of Aladdin (2011). He also worked on multiple Disney films, including The Lion King (1994) and the live-action remakes of Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (2019), and The Lion King (2019).
Despite his work on multiple live-action and stage remakes of Disney classics, Rice has spoken out against the concept, noting in an interview with GB News that they fail to capture the energy and joy of the animated originals. He particularly pointed at The Lion King and the upcoming Snow White, saying, “The story, as I understand it… is being changed so much: the characters are being changed… Why call it a remake? Why not just make a new film with an exciting new story?”
Surprisingly, Rice disagreed with the discourse surrounding Rachel Zegler’s casting as the titular Snow White. “I don’t really have an objection to casting problems,” he said. “I think anybody if you’re an actor, should be able to play any part. And the only thing, really, that matters is whether the actor is good and right for the part.”
That being said, there are far more public mentions of distaste toward the actress, especially after losing her role in Paddington 3.
The initial decision was met with some backlash, but it grew to a fury as fans began to hear Rachel Zegler talk about the upcoming film. The actress shared in multiple interviews that this movie would be nothing like the original and that the 1937 version– which had been created by Walt Disney himself— was “strange” to her. In addition, Zegler shared in other comments that Andrew Burnap– who plays the role of Jonathan since there is no prince– could see his role completely cut if the executives decided to do so.
“I just mean that it’s no longer 1937,” Zegler said. “We absolutely wrote a ‘Snow White’ that … 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.”
This quickly had social media creators sharing the video, and giving their opinion. Many, especially women, believed it is wrong to change a female character who is a caregiver type role, and enjoys the idea of true love and the fairytale into a “leader” role, as the original depiction of Snow White was not weak due to those other qualities.
There are two main instances that caused fans outrage with the upcoming film. Firstly, there will be no dwarfs in the film, but seven magical creatures, which deviate from the iconic story that Walt Disney himself created on screen. Many have not understood why the characters were removed, with a point being made that this is depriving little people with dwarfism the opportunity to gain a role in a major feature film.
The second comes from an interview where Zegler and Gal Gadot say that Snow White will not have a prince charming, and there is no one who needs to save her.
Now, many are thinking that Disney is creating an entirely different film, with a pseudo-feminist narrative that makes Snow White’s ideals and behavior be seen as wrong, creating a corrupt narrative for females who may dream of finding their “prince charming” (Andrew Burnap), or behaving as more of a softer character, than someone who is constantly trying to be the leader, as Zegler said Snow White will now be. Many have decided that this is yet another instance of Disney pushing their “woke” agenda which we have seen the company get accused of as they open up roles and opportunities to those of different diversities and race.
Related: ‘Snow White’ Actress Speaks Out on Director Abuse, Nearly Hospitalized
Interestingly enough, Zegler is not the only Disney princess to have this view on the character. In 2018 Kristen Bell, who starred as Anna (Princess Anna / Queen Anna) in both Frozen and Frozen 2 (and soon Frozen 3), spoke out about the character of Snow White and the idea of consent in the film, matching the same sentiment that Zegler would state years later.
Kristen Bell agrees that Snow White never gave the prince consent to kiss her, which sends a bad message to children with developing minds.
Bell received no backlash for expressing these thoughts, while Zegler was slammed with it. She even took to Twitter to send messages asking for others to be more nice, of course subliminally directed towards herself. The public outcry by fans, however, has not come to an end.
Now, Zegler has made a few social media status changes. Alex (@zeglerapp) shared a photo of Zegler’s Twitter page with a new biography and location. Now, her status reads, “on the front lines of the idgaf war” which references the online media war in which she has unwantingly become apart of, and her location is “the hanging tree”.
THE LOCATION OMG RACHEEEEEL pic.twitter.com/4NxX5O3Bmb
— alex (@zeglerapp) October 3, 2023
While “the hanging tree” seems very bleak, it does have multiple layers of meaning for Zegler.
The song was sung in The Hunger Games, and has a brief backstory in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes at the execution of Arlo Chance. The song was one of many composed by Lucy Gray Baird. Arlo Chance is said by the Peacekeepers to have been responsible for an explosion in the mines that killed three people, hence the reference in the song to “a man they say murdered three.” Lucy Gray, however, also later uses the song to refer to Coriolanus Snow, who indirectly reveals to her that he himself killed three people.
The song was banned by Commander Hoff of the Peacekeepers, who considered it rebellious.
As we know, Zegler is playing Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a role in which she has received much more positive media attention. Not only does this show that Zegler is choosing to hype her other role on social media over Snow White, but the meaning of the song itself is likely how Zegler has felt these past few months being at the root of the “explosion” by Snow White fans and non-fans around the world.
What do you think about this new status change for Rachel Zegler?