Rachel Zegler Slams Critics For Disney's 'Snow White' Casting Backlash [Watch]

Rachel Zegler has opened up about the backlash Disney received following the announcement of her casting as a Latina Snow White in the remake of the popular animated movie, "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs," which was originally released in 1937.

Speaking with actor Andrew Garfield on the "Variety Studio: Actors on Actors" chat show Monday, the 20-year-old actress recalled that when the live-action film was announced, it was trending on Twitter for days just because "people were angry."

In response, Garfield explained that people need education and awareness. "Ah, those people. The people that we need to educate. The people that we need to love into awareness," he said.

Talking about people who criticized her race, Zegler said: "We need to love them in the right direction." She added: "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."

The actress went on to explain the importance of the "Snow White" story in Spanish culture. She gave an example of a Spanish movie, "BlancaNieves," which was released in 2012 based on the Snow White fairy tale.

"BlancaNieves 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 shared. "But you don’t particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that."

The "West Side Story" star further noted that at the end of the day, it is her "job" that she is looking forward to doing and shared her excitement to portray a Latina princess on-screen. Gal Gadot will play the Evil Queen's character in the remake.

Apart from online users, actor Peter Dinklage had also slammed Disney for the remake and said the tale about seven dwarfs living in a cave together was a "backwards story."

"Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White," Dinklage said. "But you’re still telling the story of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.'"

"You’re progressive in one way but then you’re still making that fu----g backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f--k are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soap box?" the 52-year-old actor questioned. "I guess I’m not loud enough."

On the work front, Zegler will be next seen in a superhero movie, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," which is slated to release on June 2, next year.