Rachel Zegler Eliminates "Woke" 'Snow White', Reveals Beloved Update

Rachel Zegler has officially spoken out on Snow White after receiving lots of backlash the previous time that she shared her thoughts on the upcoming film, but this time, she has seemingly changed her tune, reassuring fans that the movie will still have the classic and nostalgic elements that they fell in love with in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

Rachel Zegler’s ascent to stardom is nothing short of remarkable, propelled not only by her striking beauty but also by her undeniable talent and intelligence. Following her breakout performance as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed adaptation of West Side Story, for which she won a Golden Globe, Zegler continues to captivate audiences with her portrayal of Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Just last night, she won a People’s Choice Award for her performance in the box office hit.

Now, she steps into the spotlight as Disney’s fresh face for the iconic reimagining of Snow White, showcasing her versatility and charm on the big screen.

In a recent interview, Zegler touched on the film, which has been delayed for over a year, originally meant to debut next month. “It’s been amazing to work alongside Disney to breathe life into such an iconic fairy tale,” she says of the film slated to release soon. Zegler shares the film is packed with the quintessential beauty moments one would expect. “Of course, she’s an iconic Disney princess, and so a lot of those iconic beauty moments for her are still scattered throughout the film,” she says.

In this short moment, Zegler has chosen to reassure fans, alerting them that the new film will indeed have the iconically Disney moments that made the animated version so successful. Considering Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Walt Disney’s first full-length feature film, and that it has been nearly 90 years since Disney has altered the story of Snow White, many fans of the film have been very protective over how the live-action film will turn out.

Disney has certainly been on a live-action kick over the past years, with Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Jungle Book and more getting their second moment in the spotlight through the retelling of their animated stories. In each of these films, the storylines remained, for the most part, identical to the animated movies, and made billions of dollars at the box office.

The first live-action to seriously deviate from the animated portrayal was The Little Mermaid. As many were used to, Ariel was always a young Caucasian girl with fire-red hair, a purple shell bra, and green fins. This is how she was represented in her movie and also how Disney has depicted her in the theme parks. When the live-action movie cast Black actress Halle Bailey in the movie, it did not change the storyline, but it certainly changed the look of the leading character. While Bailey’s performance was exceptional, both she and Disney did face severe backlash for the casting choice.

In the case of Snow White, the discrepancies in the upcoming movie’s direction became more evident when Rachel Zegler voiced her opinions, highlighting the numerous alterations the film would undergo and expressing her view that the original movie was “peculiar.”

“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 characterization change of Snow White instantly set off social media on a hate train against Zegler and the new film, with many calling the new direction “woke”.

Among the changes, Disney revamped the role of the prince, now portrayed by Andrew Burnap and renamed Jonathan. Zegler’s remarks emphasized that times have changed since the original 1937 version, indicating that Snow White’s rescue by a prince would not be a focal point in this adaptation. These statements, made alongside Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, stirred unease among a significant portion of the fanbase, which added to the upset that the seven dwarfs would change their name to “magical creatures”.

The reason Zegler’s latest quote regarding the movie is so instrumental is because it is quite opposite to the one that set off the angry mob in the first place. Instead of focusing on changes, she has decided to focus on the similarities that the movie will have to its animated predecessor. Considering there were rumors that Disney would be replacing Zegler in the film entirely at one point, it is not too shocking that the star is no longer discussing the leadership qualities that were added to Snow White that she was once so proud of. Essentially, Zegler is erasing her previous comments with these more neutral ones.

For now, fans will have to wait until March 21, 2025 to hear “Heigh Ho” and “Some Day My Prince Will Come” in theaters.

What do you think about Zegler’s new approach to discussing the film?