Rachel Zegler has reached out to those who criticized her for being cast as Snow White.
The classic animated Disney film is getting a live-action remake, and while it is still in the development phases some cast members have already been announced.
We know that Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot is set to don an evil cape as Snow White's wicked step-mother. But it was the announcement that Zegler - who is of Colombian descent - would be taking on the titular role which really stirred up criticism.
Now, the 20-year-old actress has spoken publically about the backlash. During a virtual chat with Andrew Garfield for Variety's Actors on Actors series, Zegler said of her detractors that it was necessary to "love them in the right direction."
"I never in a million years imagined that that would be a possibility for me. Particularly Snow White, in general, you don't normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent," said the young star, whose breakout performance in West Side Story won her the coveted role.
She went on to say that the Snow White fairytale isn't exclusive to Western culture, saying: "Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries. Blanca Nieves is a huge icon whether you’re talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations."
"But you don’t particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that," she added.
When Zegler's casting was first announced, there was widespread social media backlash from people questioning why a Latina actress was playing a character celebrated for their 'snow white' skin.
"When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days because all of the people were angry," Zegler said of the controversy.
The actress went on to say that, in the end, she had had to shut it all out.
"At one point, you just have to shut it all off and think, if I'm not going to read the bad, I'm just not going to read the good either, and I'm just going to believe in what I believe in," she said, adding: "At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I'm really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess."
As for her critics, the actress was forgiving, saying: "we need to love them in the right direction."
Zegler's turn as Maria in Stephen Spielberg's 2021 West Side Story adaption catapulted her to fame and won her the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.
Meanwhile, her casting is not the only controversy that has dogged Disney's Snow White remake, which was recently slammed by Peter Dinklage.
The Game of Thrones star said that the fairy tale was a "f***ing backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together" during an appearance on Marc Maron's WTF podcast.
His criticism prompted the studio to make a statement saying they would be "taking a different approach," with the seven dwarfs "to avoid reinforcing stereotypes," per The Hollywood Reporter.
