The new live-action Snow White hit theatres on March 21st, starring Latina actress Rachel Zegler. There has been quite the controversy surrounding this casting, but it hasn’t been centered around Zegler’s performance skills, voice, or incredible acting. The complaints have been about the color of her skin. Traditionally, Snow White is a Caucasian character, and in the original movie is referred to as having “skin as white as snow.” The movie writers changed the reason for Snow White’s name, stating it will be because as a child, Snow White survived a snowstorm.
Zegler has had an extremely successful career and is only 23 years old. At 16, she was casted as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story. She showed a clear ability from a young age to convey a complex and emotional character and sing at a professional level. Afterward, she was cast in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as Lucy Gray Baird. She also recently made an appearance on Broadway, starring as Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet along with actor Kit Connor, known for his portrayal of Nick Nelson in Netflix’s Heartstopper.
Her extensive experience and cross-genre vocal expertise make her a great candidate for the role of Snow White, and it’s sad that people care more about her ethnicity than her clear talent. This type of backlash is not surprising, however, after what we saw with Halle Bailey’s casting as Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid in 2023. Traditionally, Ariel is a Caucasian character with bright orange hair, and Bailey’s darker skin and lighter orange hair didn’t sit well with more conservative audiences. However, the movie did incredibly well, and Bailey gained praise for her performance – which is what we should all be focusing on anyway.
The first Snow White was released in 1938, and it is now 2025. Times have changed, and women are now seen as worthy of more than just being wives and mothers, but it’s clear some people don’t feel this way. Zegler has received hate for claiming the prince in the original Snow White essentially “stalked” the princess, which is why the new movie will focus a lot more on her autonomy and personal journey. Critics view this change as disrespectful to the original movie and don’t like the way it sways from the classic Disney princess plot. To be clear, the movie will still include a romance with the Prince, but it simply won’t be structured the same way as the original. Personally, I think art and media will inevitably change with time, and making relevant changes is what keeps things interesting.
The casting of Zegler wasn’t the only controversial choice made during the process. The movie’s casting has received backlash for their decision to use CGI to create the dwarfs, instead of casting little people.. Little people actors have expressed their disappointment, claiming that it’s already hard for them to get roles, and now another opportunity has become unavailable to them. This would have been the perfect chance to highlight actors with dwarfism, and little people have made clear that it wouldn’t be “offensive” for them to be cast as the dwarfs. The casting directors did a great job breaking barriers and creating an opportunity for an underrepresented community when they cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but they really dropped the ball on other chances to do the same for the little community.
It’s safe to say that the progressive casting and plot changes to the new, live-action Snow White has caused quite a stir. The most important takeaway of this debacle is that representation is ever important, and creativity should be respected.
