Rachel Zegler Calls Animated Snow White a ‘Badass’ Because She ‘Prays’

There’s one aspect about Disney’s OG princess Snow White that Rachel Zegler says she admires.

“You see Disney Princesses cry quite often and it’s never looked at as a bad thing. We see Cinderella cry, we see Belle cry,” Zegler, 23, shared in an interview with Allure published on Tuesday, March 18. “We even see Snow White pray in the original animated movie, which I think is the only time you ever really see a Disney Princess pray.”

Zegler went on to call Snow White praying on screen “badass,” especially since “she prays for Grumpy — the one person in that cottage who doesn’t want her there.”

In the 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White is seen kneeling at her bedside praying after singing and dancing around the cottage with the dwarfs. “Bless the seven little men who have been so kind to me. And may my dreams come true. Amen,” she states before adding, “And please make Grumpy like me.”

Related: Rachel Zegler Pays Tribute to Original Snow White Actress Adriana Caselotti

Rachel Zegler is paying homage to original Snow White actress Adriana Caselotti on social media. “just had to pay homage to the original snow white, miss adriana caselotti, to whom i owe everything ❤️,” Zegler, 23, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, March 16, sharing a selfie alongside an image of Caselotti, the original voice actress […]

Zegler did not share whether her version of the character in the film’s live-action remake will follow in the original’s footsteps and partake in a religious display. However, she has teased that the new adaptation will see Snow White take a more active role in getting her happily ever after.

“Snow White is on her own mission and she falls in love along the way, which is really awesome,” she told the outlet. “That’s how life happens. You’re never looking for it, and then, all of a sudden, it’s there. You can have it all. It’s all possible. Because you are everything you’ve been wishing and waiting for.”

Zegler also emphasized the importance of Snow White being an example of how to face hatred with kindness. “Anger can be a powerful emotion, but it doesn’t bring the brightest future,” she stated. “Snow White chooses kindness and still makes change. Power takes many forms. I hope we’ll see a new dawn of kindness and acceptance in the next couple of years. And people don’t see the need to use hate to cause further division.”

Despite the film’s message of leading with love, the live-action Snow White has been shrouded in controversy since its announcement. Actor Peter Dinklage has slammed the film’s representation of dwarfism, while Zegler faced backlash for comments she made about the character in a 2022 interview with Variety.

“It’s no longer 1937, and we absolutely wrote a Snow White that’s not gonna be saved by the prince, and she’s not gonna be dreaming about true love,” she said at the time. “She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true. And so, it’s just a really incredible story for young people everywhere to see themselves in.”

Zegler’s casting as Snow White has also become the subject of racist remarks from online trolls. Snow White is depicted as a white woman in the original film, while Zegler is of Colombian and Polish descent.

Regardless of the drama surrounding the new movie, Zegler told Allure that she’s proud of what her Snow White casting stands for. “My only prayer for the future of diversity and inclusion is that we invest in and nurture talent no matter what they look like,” she told the outlet.

Director Marc Webb also praised Zegler’s performance in the interview, telling Allure, “She understood the Disney tone I was after—a delicate blend of ‘fairy tale’ with a few modern twists. She delivers the music and dancing with an unironic grace that harkens back to the original, while still feeling emotionally alive and real. It’s no easy feat.”

Snow White hits theaters on Friday, March 21.