Snow White star Rachel Zegler was spotted in New York in what seemed to be a very pointed jumper (Picture: Backgrid)
Rachel Zegler ventured out in what appeared to be a jumper with a very pointed message on Monday, following backlash to comments she’s made about the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The West Side Story actress is starring as the titular princess in Disney’s live-action remake of their 1937 animated film, but fans have criticised things she’s said about the original tale in resurfaced interviews.
The 22-year-old attracted the ire of fans as she spoke of being ‘scared’ of the original film and only watching it once as a child back in September, as well as telling another interviewer that the original love story was ‘with a guy who literally stalks her’, which she branded ‘weird’.
Elsewhere the star also proclaimed that it was ‘no longer 1937’ and so the new version of Snow White has a heroine that is ‘not going to be saved by the prince’, which we also heard before from Halle Bailey and her turn in The Little Mermaid.
However, fans online then laid into Rachel for her views on social media as the debate around the remake – which also removes the dwarves, replacing them with a diverse group of friends – continued.
Rachel was spotted running errands in Manhattan over the weekend wearing a grey jumper with the slogan ‘no tears left to cry’ written on it upside down, which could appear to be a response to the backlash.
Her top read ‘no tears left to cry’ (Picture: Backgrid)
The actress has attracted a backlash from fans for comments made in interviews, criticising the original 1937 movie (Picture: Backgrid)
The star paired the jumper with black cycling shorts, white trainers and black sunglasses, as well as a pair of silver hoop earrings.
She wore her hair, cut shorter for the role of Snow White, tied up in a bun and had a black handbag slung over one shoulder as she walked the pavement, carrying documents.
Tightly edited clips of her speaking about Snow White have been recirculating on social media recently, seeming to cause great upset among fans – especially when she spoke about updating the film, as the original was made 86 years ago.
Snow White was the first feature-length animation from Disney, released almost 90 years ago (Picture: GTV Archive/Shutterstock/Disney)
Rachel’s views on updating the film seem to have struck an unexpected nerve among fans (Picture: Backgrid)
Talking about bringing a modern edge to Snow White, Rachel told Variety: ‘I just mean that it’s no longer 1937.
‘We absolutely wrote a ‘Snow White’ that… she’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love; she’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.’
One video on TikTok responding to Rachel’s views, posted by user @cosywithangie earlier in August, has been seen a whopping 10.5 million times, with the TikTokker claiming that ‘criticising Disney princesses is not feminist’.
‘Just because a woman values something different, does not make her any less valuable,’ Angie wrote in the caption.
She stars in Snow White alongside Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen (Picture: Getty)
‘Some women want a career and not marriage. Some women want a marriage or family and not a job. Some women want BOTH. All are to be heard, and seen, and valued.
‘Write stories about ALL women and depict them ALL as valuable and worthy, instead of trying to mould them into one specific image of what you deem worthy. Thank you.’
Disney lyricist Sir Tim Rice has also waded into the debate, questioning the studio’s reliance on remakes.
Sir Tim, who wrote songs for The Lion King and Aladdin, told GB News: ‘You have to take the views of today [into consideration] but I don’t think you should be completely bound by them.’
Snow White is portrayed as an excellent housekeeper in the animation, as well as being gentle and kind (Picture: LMPC via Getty Images)
He said the 1937 version was not ‘a bad film because it reflected and still reflects its time’, and he praised it for being ‘sincerely made and extremely popular’.
The 78-year-old added: ‘The character Snow White is a good and nice person. But you can’t redo it now and why would you want to because it’s already been done?’
‘My question is why in a way call it Snow White and why not make a new film with an exciting story? If it’s a good story, well told, it should automatically reflect the views of today.’
Disney lyricist Sir Tim Rice has also joined the debate, questioning the studio’s reliance on remakes (Picture: Getty)
Snow White depicts a princess who flees her jealous stepmother, the Evil Queen (to be played by Gal Gadot in the new version), as she tries to murder her for being the fairest in the land.
In the animated classic, Snow White’s core personality traits are being kind, gentle, and very good at housekeeping.
Controversially, she is woken from a magic slumber by the Prince’s non-consensual kiss and doesn’t have much agency in the film overall.
Metro.co.uk has previously contacted reps for Rachel Zegler for comment.
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