Last summer, Rachel Zegler, star of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, was announced as Snow White for Marc Webb’s upcoming live-action remake of the classic Disney princess movie. While she and many others are ecstatic, the internet had its fair share of commenters with less-than-thrilled reactions.
Despite the hate, though, Zegler has recently opened up about keeping her head high–which must not be too hard to do after having just nabbed the Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture – musical or comedy.
“Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me,” the young actress said in a new interview. “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,” she continued. “But you don’t particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that.”
“At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I’m really excited to do,” Zegler explained. “I get to be a Latina princess.”
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