Rachel Zegler’s Snow White Casting Backlash Got So Bad That People Started Showing Up To Her Apartment

Rachel Zegler reveals how the backlash to her casting in Disney’s Snow White interfered with her personal and home life. Directed by The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Marc Webb, the live-action remake of the classic animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs features Zegler as the titular princess and Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. Since her role in Snow White‘s cast was first announced, Zegler has faced significant backlash, which has continued in the lead-up to the movie’s 2025 theatrical release.

While speaking with Cosmopolitan, Zegler shared that the backlash led to people standing outside her apartment and screaming profanities. She candidly addressed why such ongoing harassment occurred in the aftermath of being cast in Snow White, along with the effects that it has had on her. Zegler also explained what she learned about herself and the important self-reflection she has done in response. Check out her comments below:

For being brown. For having brown skin. For playing Snow White. There was a lot of harassment from a certain group of people—they were showing up at my apartment and screaming profanities.

Where I wanted to, in a way that made it seem like it was tongue in cheek. Then it got to a point where it was not funny anymore and I really hated myself for something that other people were telling me about myself. But my ability to bounce back from that and still be passionate about the work I did for that project is something that I admire about myself.

Why Rachel Zegler’s Snow White Casting Got So Much Backlash

The Backlash Is Not Really About The Character Or The Story

As Zegler discusses in her comments, the backlash to her casting is rooted in racism and bigotry, and the harmful idea that Zegler, who is of Colombian descent, should not play Snow White because she is a person of color. In many versions of the fairy tale, Snow White’s name is derived from the character’s pale complexion. However, Zegler explained that the origin of Snow White’s name in the live-action remake is based on a version of the story where she survives a snowstorm when she was a baby, with the name being a reminder of her resilience.

The controversies around Snow White continued with Zegler explaining how the live-action remake has updated the protagonist’s personality and motivations from the original animated Disney movie released in 1937. She emphasized that the live-action iteration of the character would not be as passive, fixated on finding true love, and simply saved by a prince, but would instead be a leader who would have more agency in her story. Zegler also referred to the prince in the 1937 movie as “a guy who literally stalks” Snow White.

The Backlash Is Unacceptable

Racism and bigotry are always unacceptable, as is going to an actor’s home in an attempt to antagonize them. Like most fairy tales, there are countless versions of the Snow White story, and it is both inaccurate and disingenuous to claim that the character must be played by a White actor to be faithful to the source material. This is merely a thin excuse for hateful behavior and rhetoric. Zegler’s live-action costume and other elements will have similarities and differences as the new Snow White movie tells its own version of the story.

Other Actors Who Received Massive Backlash

Zegler Is Just The Latest In A List Of Actors Who Recently Faced Similar Backlash

As appalling as the racist backlash to Rachel Zegler’s casting in Snow White has been, it is sadly not the first time such controversy has been an issue. As more diversity is shown in Hollywood, there are plenty of small-minded people online who take it upon themselves to share their negative reactions to the casting of actors of color in high-profile roles. In most cases, the online vitriol has been targeted at women, and like with Zegler’s case, crosses a line of simple fan opinions and becomes ugly attacks.

The issue has become especially troublesome in the Star Wars universe with a number of actors of color being targeted for their casting in the massive franchise. One of the first instances was the casting of Kelly Marie Tran as Rose in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. While the story of Tran, a relatively unknown actor at the time, being selected to take on such a key role, was an inspiring one, it was overshadowed by the harsh treatment she received from online trolls. Tran described the feelings of self-doubt in response to the backlash (via New York Times):

“It wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them. Their words seemed to confirm what growing up as a woman and a person of color already taught me: that I belonged in margins and spaces, valid only as a minor character in their lives and stories.”

The dark side of the fandom continued to show itself in the Disney+ Star Wars shows. Despite these stories taking place in a galaxy far, far away, filled with droids and aliens, the casting of actors of color was deemed unacceptable to some toxic audiences. Moses Ingram received such vicious attacks online for her casting as Reva Sevander that Disney and co-star Ewan McGregor stepped in to condemn these hateful “fans.” More recently, Amandla Stenberg detailed the unfair hate surrounding her casting in The Acolyte, which started before the show had been seen (via USA Today):

“For those who aren’t aware, there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it,” Stenberg said in the video. “That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of I would say hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language towards us.”

Rachel Zegler is not even the first Disney princess to receive such backlash, as Halle Bailey was targeted by similar trolls for her acclaimed performance as Ariel in The Little Mermaid live-action remake. Such backlash even exists in the world of theater, as it was revealed that up-and-coming actor Francesca Amewudah-Rivers was cast as Juliet alongside Tom Holland in a stage production of Romeo & Juliet. Following the casting announcement, the production company, Jamie Lloyd Company, was forced to address the hateful comments directed at Amewudah-Rivers.

While Rachel Zegler’s Snow White casting backlash is a sad reality, the fact that this is nothing new and that it keeps happening shows a troubling side of the online community that calls themselves fans yet only seems interested in attacks.

Source: Cosmopolitan