The ‘West Side Story’ star also asked fans to not tag her in ‘nonsensical discourse about my casting’ in the Disney live-action remake
Rachel Zegler does not want to be involved in “nonsensical” debates over her casting in Disney’s live-action Snow White movie.
On Saturday, Zegler, 22, took to Twitter to share four throwback photos of herself dressed up as a number of iconic Disney princess characters — and a message asking her fans to avoid tagging her in posts about the anticipated film.
“extremely appreciative of the love i feel from those defending me online, but please don’t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting,” the West Side Story star wrote in the post. “i really, truly do not want to see it.”
“so i leave you w these photos,” she added, referencing the four snapshots. One shows shows a young Zegler dressed as Snow White, while three others — dated to May 2005 — show the future actress dressed up as The Beauty and the Beast’s Belle at a Disney theme park.
“i hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what,” Zegler finished in her caption.
Zegler’s post got love from another Disney princess in Halle Bailey, who also received some racist backlash over her casting as Ariel in the company’s recent remake of The Little Mermaid.
“we love you so much ❤️ truly the perfect princess,” Bailey, 23, wrote in a post on Twitter as she retweeted Zegler’s original post.
Like Bailey experienced when her role in The Little Mermaid was announced, Zegler’s casting was met with some racist backlash on social media over Snow White being played by an actress of Latin descent.
Zegler herself commented on her casting, telling Variety, “Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me. 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. But you don’t particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that.”
The actress — who is also set to star in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — appeared to confirm that Snow White had wrapped filming in July 2022., when she shared on Twitter that “the love this film has brought me is magical.”
At the D23 Expo last September, Zegler told PEOPLE that she and the filmmakers behind the new Snow White movie “did a really deep dive into fixing and making a modern woman out of Snow White.”
“I think she’s 13 in the original cartoon, so we started there and said, ‘No, she’s 18 in this one.’ She’s a bit more independent,” Zegler said at the time. “She’s also living in grief. I mean, there was a lot of complex emotion that we decided to deep-dive into. And understanding what it’s like to be a teenager on top of all that.”
Zegler stars in the upcoming movie opposite Gal Gadot, whose casting as the villainous Evil Queen. Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man) is directing the film from a screenplay cowritten by Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson.
Snow White is scheduled to open in theaters on March 22, 2024.
