How Rachel Zegler Really Feels About The Snow White Casting Backlash

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Remember when Disney's live-action version of "Snow White" came out in 2025 and completely flopped, and everybody rushed to blame star Rachel Zegler? Well, the actor is finally speaking out about how all of that felt.

Let's be honest about a few things first, though. It wasn't Zegler's fault that "Snow White" flopped ... and it certainly wasn't because she stuck up for her political beliefs online. (For what it's worth, it's also really funny that the movie's mega-producer, Marc Platt, apparently high-tailed it across the U.S. to yell at her about posting said beliefs, and Zegler, admirably, stuck to her friggin' guns.) In a profile for Harper's Bazaar UK, Zegler, speaking to Frances Hedges, said she didn't need to apologize or earn redemption ("You have to have actually done something wrong in order to be redeemed"), but that the backlash did, admittedly, shock her. As she told Hedges of the experience:

"I've said what I feel, and that will always be a testament to my core beliefs as a human. That's where I stand. You live and you learn, and there's a caution that comes with that. There's an understanding that the temptation to speak doesn't always mean that it must be done, and that there are a lot of opportunities to make more meaningful change than a tweet."

That's a fair stance, but still, Zegler said she might have done one thing differently. "If I'd been able to predict everything that would come my way, the threats to my safety, I would have just thrown my phone into the ocean," she admitted. "I think any sane person would have." Also fair!

20th Century Studios

Unfortunately, Rachel Zegler — who, it should also be said, is an unbelievably talented singer, actor, and performer as well as a strong activist for her chosen political causes — has been a lightning rod for controversy basically since the beginning of her career. After Steven Spielberg hand-picked her to play the lead role of María in his 2021 remake of "West Side Story," Zegler said she faced backlash about that; the actor is of Colombian heritage, while María is Puerto Rican. "I was told I wasn't enough of one thing for 'West Side Story' and too much of another for 'Snow White,'" Zegler explained to Frances Hedges in that Harper's Bazaar UK profile. "It was a really confusing time to be in my early twenties and hearing that."

Not only that, but in a profile in Allure from March 2025, Zegler said that because her name doesn't "have a single ounce of Latin," as she put it, she had a truly bizarre experience leading up to "West Side Story." As she recalled, "When I was in the running for María in 'West Side Story,' they kept calling to ask if I was legit." Zegler continued, "I remember thinking, Do you want me to bring my abuelita in? I will," she continued. "I'll bring her into the studio if you want to meet her." All in all, Zegler said it was genuinely wild "having a bunch of white executives have you prove your identity to them."

She has a good attitude about it, at least. "It's an interesting experience being part of that diaspora in the current climate we live in," she went on. "But I love being Colombian."

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Besides "West Side Story," and "Snow White," you probably recognize Rachel Zegler from "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," where she plays District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the "Hunger Games" prequel film alongside Tom Blyth's young Coriolanus Snow. After "Snow White," though, she returned to her first love: stage acting. After a wildly successful run as Eva Perón in "Evita" at the London Palladium in the West End directed by Jamie Lloyd, which earned her a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Award, Zegler is set to appear alongside her longtime friend Ben Platt — yes, Marc Platt's son — in a production of "The Last Five Years," also at the London Palladium.

All the while, as she told Harper's Bazaar UK, she's been keeping a good head on her shoulders ... and she'll be there for the next generation of young performers (particularly young performers of color) who attract backlash for frankly ridiculous reasons. Specifically shouting out the "Gossip Girl" reboot star Whitney Peak, who's playing Lucy's potential descendant in the next "Hunger Games" prequel movie, "Sunrise on the Reaping," Zegler said she feels protective, which makes sense! "I reached out [to Peak] say, 'I'm here, even though I hope to God you don't need me,'" she shared. "And the next time a woman of color is cast as a Disney princess, I'll be there with bells on to support them, to lift them up, to advise and to tell them what not to do."

That's all she can do ... and in the meantime, you should go watch Zegler's performance in any of her major movies. She's really talented!