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9th December 2023
04:15pm GMT
Actress Rachel Zegler has spoken out about the backlash she received when she was cast in Disney's live action version of Snow White.
The 22-year-old was cast in the remake back in 2021, but it was met with much furore.
Zegler's casting faced racist backlash due to her Latin heritage, as critics said that the actress was not pale enough to play the character who is described “as white as snow.”
Additionally, the actress spoke out against the original plot, calling the original movie 'weird' for its tale that follows 'a guy who literally stalks' the titular princess.
"I just mean that it's no longer 1937. She's not going to be saved by the prince and she's not going to be dreaming about true love," she told Extra TV.
However, in a new interview with Halle Bailey for Variety's Actors on Actors series, Zegler has said she is now thankful the backlash she received.
“I feel so thankful for those moments because it started to make me feel like solid Teflon," she said.
“That nothing can hurt anymore because they’ve said the worst that can be said. You just say, “Thank you so much for this. I have a lot of love in my life, and I’m very thankful.” We get to do our work and have that speak for itself instead.”
“Choosing thankfulness and gratefulness is choosing peace. As much as you’d like to remind people verbally that being in the spotlight doesn’t absolve you of your humanity — that you’re allowed to have human moments — it doesn’t necessarily do what you want it to do. It fuels them more,” she added.
