Rachel Zegler shuts down claims she can't play Snow White because of her skin

19 March 2025, 13:08

By Sam Prance

Rachel Zegler has revealed how the film addresses the "skin was white as snow" line from the fairytale.

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Ahead of the release of the live-action Snow White, Rachel Zegler has given the perfect response to anyone who has argued that she shouldn't play the Disney princess based on the colour of her skin.

Early reviews for Snow White are in and Hunger Games star Rachel has received huge praise for her portrayal of the titular role. In spite of this, Rachel has been subjected to a torrent of racial abuse over her casting in the film. Rachel is American with Colombian heritage and racist trolls have claimed that a Latina actress can't play Snow White.

In particular, people have singled out the "her skin was white as snow" line from the Brothers Grimm fairytale.

Now, Rachel has addressed the line and why her casting still makes canonical sense.

Read more: Hunger Games' Rachel Zegler sang live for every Lucy Gray singing scene
Read more: Rachel Zegler praised by critics in early Snow White live-action reviews

Watch the live-action Snow White trailer

In the Brothers Grimm Snow White fairytale that was published in 1812, Snow is described as having "skin as white as snow". However, many iterations of Snow White have existed over time and not all of them include that line.

Addressing the line and her interpretation of Snow White, Rachel told Variety: “It fell back to another version of Snow White that was told in history, 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."

Rachel added: "One of the core points in our film for any young woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.”

Snow White in Disney's animated 1937 movie. Picture: Alamy

Discussing her affiliation with Snow White further, Rachel said: "She was my mom’s favourite princess. When she was growing up, there weren’t a lot of dark-haired princesses, and that was the one she could relate to.”

Rachel also revealed that she thought Cinderella was Black as a child because of Brandy who played the princess in the 1997 live-action adaptation: “I grew up in a house where that was Cinderella. Obviously, we watched the cartoon. But a child’s mind is the most amazing thing, where it’s just like, ‘OK, that’s Cinderella'."

She continued: "But the blond-haired, blue-eyed, blue-dress Cinderella from the 1950s cartoon is also Cinderella. Also, Hilary Duff is Cinderella in A Cinderella Story. I was able to comprehend those things at a young age.”

Mic drop!