Rachel Zegler is currently having the moment of her life as the star of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Zegler was unknown before being cast in the musical remake and now, due to the film receiving raves from critics, she could be in the conversation for a potential Oscar nomination. Disney was so impressed with Rachel Zegler’s dailies from West Side Story that they cast her in their Snow White live-action remake as the titular character. The casting led to the inevitable comments from trolls who took issue that a Latina actress was chosen for the role and now Zegler is addressing some of the backlash she faced after the announcement was made.
Rachel Zegler recently took part in a dual interview for Variety with actor Andrew Garfield. During the conversation, Zegler was asked about the Snow White remake and she admits that she was more surprised than anyone that she landed the part:
“Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me. You don’t normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent. Even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries. Blanca Nieves is a huge icon whether you’re talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it. But you don’t particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that. When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry.”
When it came to some of the more despicable comments about her casting, Zegler decided to just focus on the job at hand and ignore the Twitter backlash. The actress said, “We need to love them in the right direction. 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.”
This is probably the best possible response she could give. Ignore the haters and just do the job that many believe you are 100% capable of doing. This should be celebrated as a huge opportunity for her rather than giving any power to the negativity that surrounded her being cast. Judging from her work in West Side Story, Zegler has a very bright future ahead of her.
Are you ready to see Rachel Zegler in the upcoming Snow White remake?