14
Credit: Inside the MagicRachel Zegler has certainly been making a name for herself lately. Though she’d already appeared in blockbuster films such as Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake (2021), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), it wasn’t until Disney’s live-action Snow White remake was announced that she started to become something of a household name — albeit for all the wrong reasons.
Snow White (2025) garnered controversy from the moment it was announced way back in 2016. Not only are audiences rarely onboard with live-action remakes (although that’s not to say no such films have obliterated the global box office — 2017’s Beauty & the Beast and 2019’s The Lion King are just two examples), but the live-action reboot of the 1937 animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, got off on the wrong foot for many reasons.
From the casting of Rachel Zegler herself, who’s of Latin descent and as such doesn’t “have skin white like snow” like the more traditional character of Snow White, to the reimagining of the seven dwarfs, who were originally real actors but were changed to CGI characters following backlash from fans, and Zegler’s criticism of the original 1937 film to her political views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Snow White was a poisoned apple from the start.
Hopefully, though, the film’s performance at the box office (currently $194.1 million against an estimated budget of $240–270 million) and poor critical reception won’t affect Zegler’s career moving forward.
After all, she’s an incredibly talented actor (and singer) whose credentials so far–including her performance as the iconic Disney Princess–prove that she has that Hollywood staying power. But where to next for the Hunger Games star?
Related: R-Rated ‘TMNT’ Reboot Could Land Gina Carano in Lead Role
Though there are no confirmed plans for Rachel Zegler to appear in any other major franchises, recently, we’ve enjoyed fan-casting her as both Ahsoka Tano and Princess Leia in the Star Wars universe. But what if Zegler found success on the smaller screen instead? What if an actor like Jenna Ortega eventually stepped away from her hit Netflix series Wednesday (2022), leaving the doors open for another well-known star to take her place?
Wednesday, which centers on the morbid Addams Family teen of the same name, turned Jenna Ortega into a global sensation (and TikTok icon). Since then, she has continued on an upward trajectory.
In addition to her role as Wednesday Addams, Ortega, 22, has appeared in other mega franchises such as Jurassic World (animation) and Scream. But what’s particularly interesting about Ortega is that she isn’t afraid to exit these types of franchises.
Related: Rachel Zegler a Favorite To Play Princess Leia in Future ‘Star Wars’ Film
Not only did Ortega leave Scream 7 after appearing in the two previous films (which she recently explained to The Cut was due to other individuals having also left the project), she also bowed out of the animated series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, the follow-up to Camp Cretaceous (2020–2022), in which she played Brooklynn in all five seasons.
The question is, will she continue to play Wednesday Addams, or will she eventually hang up the pigtails?
For fans of Ortega, the good news is that she’ll be reprising her role in Wednesday Season 2, which is expected to arrive on Netflix sometime this year. But if Ortega has taught us anything, it’s never to expect her to get too comfortable in a big franchise, for whatever reason.
Enter Rachel Zegler. Not only is she similar in age to Ortega, but they share facial similarities, from big eyes to expressive smiles, and not to mention those flowing dark locks.
As for attitudes, it’s fair to say that the Snow White star is more than capable of ruffling feathers and dishing out wry humor left and right, as well as being direct and outspoken.
Sure, these are qualities she’s exhibited mostly off the screen, particularly where “promoting” Snow White has been concerned, but she also has some solid acting chops on her. There’s only one problem with casting Zegler as Wednesday: most fans would reject her.
Audiences have responded about as well to Zegler’s off-camera antics as they have to the latest Disney remake itself. But here’s to hoping that, over time, her critics will, at the very least, learn to appreciate her talent.
Either way, should Jenna Ortega ever step away from the role that has made her a household name, it could be the perfect opportunity for Rachel Zegler to prove that she can still win hearts and become a global sensation, despite having failed to do so by playing one of the most iconic Disney Princesses of all time.
Snow White is out in theaters now. Wednesday is streaming on Netflix.
Would you like to see Zegler replace Jenna Ortega in Wednesday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!