Rachel Zegler Says Live-Action ‘Snow White’ Backlash Is Due to ‘Passion’ For the Original Movie: ‘We’re Not Always Going to Agree With Everyone’

“Snow White” star Rachel Zegler says the backlash against Disney‘s latest live-action remake is due to “passion” for the original film.

While Disney’s live-action re-releases have seen better days since 2019’s “The Lion King,” the “Snow White” rehash has been a particular point of contention in some circles due to Zegler’s Columbian heritage. The outrage came to a head when the “Y2K” star called the 1937 original “dated,” featuring a prince that “literally stalks” Snow White. Zegler now says she interprets the controversies as an overprotective reaction to a beloved Disney classic.

“I interpret people’s sentiments towards this film as passion,” Zegler told Vogue Mexico. “What an honor to be a part of something that people feel so passionately about. We’re not always going to agree with everyone who surrounds us and all we can do is our best.” (Quotes were independently translated from Spanish to English by Variety)

She continued, “I understand that the conversation comes from the community not wanting to be seen as a monolith, but the reality of being Latino and working in this industry is that we try to represent the entire diaspora. I know where I’ve been, I represent it in my narrative, and I carry it in my heart every day. No one can ever tell me that it’s not a part of me.”

Shortly after her “Snow White” casting was unveiled, Zegler reacted to the online backlash on Variety‘s “Actors on Actors,” saying that the discourse on X (then called Twitter) went on “for days, because all of the people were angry.”

“We need to love them in the right direction,” Zegler said at the time. “At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I’m really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess.”