Rachel Zegler found the backlash over her Snow White comments “upsetting”.

The West Side Story actress, who is Latina, first experienced backlash when she was cast as the iconic Disney princess in the upcoming live-action movie. She then came under fire last year when she revealed that her film would be more feminist and less “dated” than the animated original.

Reflecting on the abuse she received online for her comments, Zegler told Variety, “In all honesty, it made me sad that it was taken in such a way, because I believe that women can do anything. But I also believe that they can do everything… I would never want to box someone in and say, ‘If you want love, then you can’t work.’ Or ‘If you want to work, then you can’t have a family.’ It’s not true. It’s never been true.”

According to Zegler, she was trying to explain at the time that her Snow White has other hopes and dreams beyond finding Prince Charming.

“It can be very upsetting when things get taken out of context or jokes don’t land,” she continued. “The love story is very integral. A lot of people wrote that we weren’t doing (that storyline) anymore – we were always doing that; it just wasn’t what we were talking about on that day.”

As for the uproar about a Latina playing a character with “skin as white as snow”, the 23-year-old revealed there is a new story behind the name.

“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,” she shared. “And so the king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience. One of the core points in our film for any young woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.”

Snow White will be released in March 2025.

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