Rachel Zegler’s Snow White Casting Predicted in Funny Throwback Photo

Rachel Zegler has shared an adorable throwback photo foreshadowing her casting as the title character in Disney’s upcoming Snow White live-action movie. The up-and-coming actress made her film debut in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story last year and won critical acclaim for her performance, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her role as Maria. Since then, Zegler has amassed a huge following on social media and been cast in both Snow White and the upcoming release Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

The details of the upcoming Snow White movie remain relatively scarce, but the film is currently confirmed to be in production with Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot will set to star as the Evil Queen. The movie, a remake of the iconic 1937 animated original, is scheduled to release sometime in 2023.  Shortly after Zegler’s casting was announced, the movie was the subject of some controversy, with actor Peter Dinklage suggesting in an interview that the concept of Snow White was ableist because of its stereotypical treatment of the Seven Dwarves. Disney responded to Dinklage’s concerns with an assertion that the film would be taking a different approach and that the studio was in consultation with the members of the dwarfism community. Dinklage did, however, send love and respect to Zegler.

The funny photo shared on Twitter shows a young Zegler with a Snow White character performer, most likely at Disney World. Zegler’s flower crown, short black hair and long yellow skirt make her the spitting image of the princess, and the two are both curtseying to match one another. Though the post is dated March 2, 2018, the actress’s Throwback Thursday hashtag suggests that the photo is even older. Zegler captioned her repost of the photo with “girl you didn’t even know,”  recognizing that what her younger self thought was just a fun photo opportunity was actually a premonition. See her tweet below:

Click Here to View the Post on Twitter

Zegler’s rise to fame has been well-documented on social media. She won the role of Maria because Spielberg posted an open casting call onto Twitter in January 2018. Zegler rose to the challenge by responding with a video of herself singing the songs “Tonight” and “I Feel Pretty.” Later that year, she would go viral on the social media network with a video of her performance of “Shallow” from A Star Is Born in an auditorium. Though the actress’s fame has skyrocketed over the following four years, she maintains a relatable social media presence, sharing behind the scenes content from the set of Snow White and self-deprecating humor about diva behavior.

Zegler’s throwback post is particularly heartwarming because of the hurdles and self-doubt that she faced on her journey to stardom, especially in the context of Snow White. In an interview with Andrew Garfield for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Zegler discussed the online backlash to her casting, admitting that growing up she never believed she could play a role like Snow White because of her Latina heritage. The actress, however, has proven both herself and the haters wrong through her talent and tenacity, impressing executives with her beautiful voice and acting skills, who will surely be hoping that Zegler’s success in West Side Story will be replicated here. To quote Disney’s motto, Zegler’s casting in Snow White proves that dreams really do come true.

Source: Rachel Zegler

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