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Rachel Zegler gets bashed for 2022 Snow White comments

Rachel Zegler — Disney has made a habit of remaking famous animated pictures into live-action blockbusters over the last decade or so. It is a move that continues to split fans today, with many believing that the entertainment behemoth can do better than waste money on films that lack the charm of the originals.

Some viewers have become bored of the live-action films after years of following the same concept. However, the latest outcry to the planned live-action Snow White picture is due to statements made by its main actress, Rachel Zegler.

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What happened

Snow White is scheduled to be released in March 2024, but main actress Rachel Zegler has faced fire on social media for statements she made last year.

Interview footage of Zegler from September has been making waves on TikTok, Twitter, and practically every social media site with video, with people slamming her for her opinions about the film.

In the footage, Rachel Zegler suggests that sequences starring her co-star and Prince Charming actor Andrew Burnap be deleted from the 1937 adaptation. Another footage that drew the greatest criticism was when Zegler declared that Snow White is a leader who doesn’t need a prince to save her.

Rachel Zegler, according to another interview, only viewed the groundbreaking animated picture once before landing the part because it startled her as a youngster.

TikTok has re-posted the footage, with many viewers believing that Disney has done more to make Snow White a more feminist symbol, only for Rachel Zegler to attribute an antifeminist tone to the character.

Zegler’s remarks have only fueled the flames, since there has been criticism directed at the actress, a Latina who has faced racial abuse for her role in the adaptation.

What did Rachel Zegler say?

The social media snippets have been cut from Rachel Zegler’s interviews, so they don’t include all of her ideas on the film.

In a September interview at the Disney Fan Club’s D23 Expo, the actress revealed she sobbed because she was overwhelmed when she saw herself as Snow White on screen, and she praised the team members who helped make the picture possible.

However, it was her remarks regarding Snow White’s “modern edge” that sparked the further criticism.

“I just mean that it’s no longer 1937,” said Zegler. “We absolutely wrote a Snow White that… she’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.”

“She’s going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true.”

Another interview, in which Rachel Zegler stated that the original film concentrated on Snow White’s love story with “a guy who literally stalks her,” drew criticism, and she added that they removed it this time.

“We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie,” she explained. “It’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful.”

Rachel Zegler also jokingly suggested that the scenes involving Prince Charming be cut.

Another interview footage showed that the 1937 picture terrified the Snow White actress. She didn’t watch it again until she got the part.

“I think I watched it once and never picked it up again,” said Zegler. “I’m being so serious.”

Unjustified backlash?

Rachel Zegler’s statements, according to Ashten Stein, a brand strategist and TikTok influencer, felt that she had not gotten sufficient media training for Snow White.

“Clearly, Rachel has not been prepped properly, and there hasn’t been a proper foundations set for her to be marketing this movie,” said Stein, who also made a reaction video to her interviews. 

“And that shows in what she’s saying.”

However, Ashten Stein feels that some of the criticism leveled towards Zegler has gone too far.

“There’s one thing to critique someone’s actions, and it’s another to start bullying or feeding into canceled culture,” she explained. “Because I think Rachel’s a smart, beautiful, talented woman. I think she could go very, very far if she listened to the criticism, not the hate.”

Rachel Zegler was also defended by internet users who deemed the criticism unwarranted.

“She’s very talented, and she got the role, and your little Tiky-Toky with millions of views is not going to take that away from her,” said Franchesca Ramsey.

One person on X (previously Twitter) claimed they thought Rachel Zegler had done something much worse than the months-old interviews.

“I thought Rachel Zegler ran over somebody’s grandmother or something,” they wrote. “Imagine my surprise.”

“Harrison Ford and Robert Pattinson actively hate Star Wars and Twilight,” another pointed out. “And yet it’s hehe funny and all Rachel Zegler did was say Snow White scared her as a kid.”

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