Who is playing Snow White in the live-action movie? Explained

The fairytale story of Snow White is ready to hit the big screens in a live-action movie produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a remake of the 1937 animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first animated feature film by Disney. This comes right after the success of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and is another movie to join Disney’s list of live-action adaptations.

The storybook character has been portrayed many times in recent years – in Mirror Mirror by Lily Collins and in Snow White and the Huntsman by Kirsten Stewart.

While the protagonist of the story is admired, the antagonist, the Evil Queen, is iconic in the fantasy world. With renowned actors ready to portray antagonists currently, the negative character can become a big draw for moviegoers.

The production of the live-action adaptation was announced in 2016 with Rachel Zegler cast as Snow White. Ever since, many inputs and interviews from the star cast have added hype to the movie.

Moreover, the casting of Zegler for the titular role became a talking point in the media in 2021. With Wonder Woman acto, Gal Gadot playing the Evil Queen mother, the movie promises to deliver the goods.

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Actor Rachel Zegler is cast for the titular role in Snow White

American actress and singer, Rachel Zegler has been cast in the role of the fairytale protagonist, leading to raves of anticipation. While she played a side role in 2019’s Shazam!, she gained eyeballs after her role in Steven Spielberg’s musical West Side Story. For the Spielberg movie, she won a Golden Globe award for best actress.

The actor, who prepared for the role by having a Snow White haircut, faced backlash on social media for playing the white princess despite being a Latina. She took up the issue in a discussion with actor Andrew Garfield in a series named Actors on Actors. The public outrage was due to the portrayal of Snow White as a princess of Latin descent.

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Which actors make up the remaining cast of the movie?

Rachel and Gal Gadot are the princess and the Evil Queen in the movie (Image via Getty)

Gal Gadot stars opposite Rachel in the role of the Evil Queen. Though not new to the fantasy world due to portraying Wonder Woman for DC, playing an antagonist of this level may be a first for the talented actor.

Cast for the role in November 2021, Gal teased her character during the premiere of her Netflix movie, Red Notice, that year.

Andrew Burnap will play Jonathan, a newly introduced character in the movie. A Tony Award winner, Burnap has done numerous television series and was seen in 2018’s The Chaperone.

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The crew and plot of the live-action movie

Snow White is a fairytale character whose story was written by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. The 1937 animated movie from Disney was loosely based on the original story. The movie will have some changes from the animated film as well as the fairytale.

The makers have promised to expand on music as well as the story in the upcoming movie and introducing a new character like Jonathan may be one such example.

While details about the plot and changes incorporated in it are not known, fans expect to see at least the poisoned apple, the magic mirror and the glass coffin. As such, the trailer, which might give out some ideas, debuted at D23 Expo but has not been released on public platforms.

The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb is helming the direction for Snow White and Marc Platt is the producer. Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson are the writers, Mandy Walker is the cinematographer and Mark Sanger is the editor. Songwriter duo Pasek & Paul of La La Land fame handled the music for the movie.

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Controversy surrounding Disney’s new adaptation

Disney faced two issues that led to controversies over the upcoming movie Snow White. On one hand, casting Rachel, an actor of Latin descent to play the essentially Caucasian lead created a lot of views and discussions on social media. On the other hand, rumors suggest that there may be no dwarves in the movie.

The controversy around the dwarves started when actor Peter Dinklage, who has a kind of dwarfism, pointed out in an interview that a progressive narrative would not include the “backwards story” about dwarves living in caves.

He was speaking on Marc Maron’s podcast in January 2022 when he criticized the portrayal of dwarves in the wrong light. In return, Disney promised to consult members of the dwarfism community and try to avoid stereotyping in the fairytale adaptation.

The live-action movie of the age-old fairytale, Snow White, is set to hit theatres on March 22, 2024.