Rachel Zegler addresses Snow White backlash for first time since movie bombed at box office

Australia Broadcast Center

5 days ago

Actor Rachel Zegler has outlined the toll backlash over the live-action remake of Disney's Snow White had on her, saying therapy and anti-anxiety medication helped her get through it.
In an interview with the British magazine i-D, Zegler said her psychiatrist reminded her that what she's going through "isn't normal".
"That sentence did such wonders for me in multiple situations in my life," Zegler said.
She described being medicated for anxiety as "truly a game changer".
"And I wanted to function in a way that made me feel confident in the way I was moving through the world."
Zegler told i-D entertainment editor Douglas Greenwood that she has chosen a positive mindset.
"Happiness is absolutely a choice," she said.
"And every day I wake up and I think I'm very lucky to live the life I live."
Snow White starring Zegler in the title role and Gal Gadot as the evil queen earned just $US42.2 million ($64.9 million) at US cinemas when it opened in theatres in March.
It ended up grossing $US205.6 million worldwide ($316 million).
According to Forbes, it had a $US270 million ($415.3 million) production budget before advertising and publicity were taken into account.
The film received negative reviews, but had been plagued with immense controversy prior to its release including racist backlash for the casting of an actor of Colombian descent in the titular role.
The original 1812 collection of fairytales written in German by the Brothers Grimm includes the story of a princess whose skin was "as white as snow".
Disney also faced criticism for using CGI to create seven "magical creatures" instead of potentially employing performers for the roles of the seven dwarfs.
In a statement, Disney said they had consulted with members of the dwarfism community to avoid reinforcing stereotypes.
Zegler also faced criticism and online trolling by suggesting the classic was outdated in its representations of male and female relationships.
"The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so," she said in a red carpet interview with Extra TV in 2022.
"There's a big focus on her love story with a guy that literally stalks her … weird, weird — so we aren't going to do that."
She later apologised for those comments.
She stands firm, however, on posting on X the day the Snow White trailer dropped: "and always remember, free palestine."
According to Greenwood, Zegler spoke to i-D with "a bracelet, beaded the colours of the Palestinian flag, spelling out ceasefire".
"My compassion has no boundaries, is really what it is," she said.
"And my support for one cause does not denounce any others.
"That's always been at the core of who I am as a person.
"It's the way I was raised."
While Zegler's activism has angered people on one side of the fence, pro-Palestinian advocates were also unhappy over the casting of Gadot, an Israeli actor and IDF supporter.
Zegler said if speaking out leads to her downfall, there are "worse things".
"There are obviously things that are at stake by being outspoken, but nothing is worth innocent lives," she said.