Snow White star Rachel Zegler slams ‘white’ Hollywood executives in scathing rant amid Disney ‘woke’ fallout
Rachel Zegler has blasted “white” studio executives for questioning her Latina identity during the casting process for West Side Story as she prepares for the release of Disney’s scandal plagued Snow White, where she plays the titular princess.
The 23-year-old actress won a Golden Globe for her debut role as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 adaption of the classic musical.
West Side Story, inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, follows the love affair of Maria and Tony (Ansel Elgort), who come from two sides of a a gang war in New York city – the Jets, a gang of white youths, and the Sharks, of Puerto Rican descent.
“There’s confusion because I don’t have a single ounce of Latin in my name,” Zegler explained about her casting to Allure magazine.
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“When I was in the running for Maria in West Side Story, they kept calling to ask if I was legit. I remember thinking, ‘Do you want me to bring my abuelita (grandmother) in? I will. I’ll bring her into the studio if you want to meet her.'”
The star expressed frustration at “having a bunch of white executives have you prove your identity to them”.
Her mother, Gina, is of Colombian descent, whilst her maternal grandmother emigrated from Barranquilla, Colombia, to the United States in the 1960s.
Zegler’s construction worker father, Craig Zegler, is of Polish descent.
In a potential snipe at the Trump administration, she described the “interesting experience being part of that diaspora in the current climate we live in”.
Nevertheless, Zegler affirmed: “I love being Colombian”.
Following the actress’s success in West Side Story, Spielberg personally recommended her to Snow White director Marc Webb.
In her Allure interview, Zegler addressed being cast as the iconic Disney princess despite the character not being Latina in the 1937 animated film or original German fairy tale.
“The reality is, I was given a chance because I could sing,” she explained.
“My only prayer for the future of diversity and inclusion is that we invest in and nurture talent no matter what they look like.”
“That’s why it’s so important for the next generation to see movies like Snow White,” Zegler added.
Outside of Zegler’s contentious casting, Snow White has been shouldered with multiple “woke” scandals – leading to Disney “scaling back” premieres of the film.“scaling back” premieres of the film.
During a 2022 interview, Zegler labelled the film’s story as “dated and “weird” as she described Prince Charming as “a guy who literally stalks (Snow White)”.
The remake has also been blasted for its decision not to include “the seven dwarves” in its title and by not casting actors with dwarfism as the characters.
A source told the Daily Mail: “Disney are already anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White and have reduced the media schedule to just a handful of tightly controlled press events.
“That is why they have taken the highly unusual step not to host a London premiere for the film and are minimising the amount of press questions that Rachel Zegler gets.”
