Rachel Zegler Clarifies Snow White’s Name Is Not Based on Skin Color in New Disney Movie
Rachel Zegler’s Snow White is whistling a new tune.
Indeed, the West Side Story actress, who will play the titular character in the upcoming live action Disney adaptation of the 1937 film, recently shared that the line in the original Snow White, denoting her character as someone with “skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony,” will be modified to fit her Colombian heritage.
“It fell back to another version of Snow White that was told in history,” Rachel explained in an interview with Variety published Oct. 2. “Where she survived a snowstorm that occurred when she was a baby, and so the king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience. One of the core points in our film for any woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.”
The 23-year-old’s update on the upcoming film follows social media outrage that has droned on since she was first cast in 2021. On top of the racist backlash that stemmed from Rachel securing the main role, many Disney fans did not like how she criticized the original film’s plot in interviews after her casting was announced.
