Rachel Zegler, who has just been cast as Disney's new remake in January 2019 after she was plucked off the internet when a video of her singing hit song "Shallow" from A Star is Born went viral.
Now, it was announced this morning that Zegler has been cast as Snow White in an live-action adaptation of the Disney classic. The film will be directed by Marc Webb, helmer of 500 Days of Summer and the Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man movies. Production on the Snow White film is slated to begin sometime in 2022, giving Disney plenty of time to round out the cast of the seven dwarves, the evil queen, and the prince who comes to save the titular character. While Zegler's casting may come as a surprise to some considering her position in the industry, it's a full-circle moment for the actress.
Zegler took to Twitter to celebrate the news of her Snow White casting, revealing that she had tweeted about her desire to be a Disney Princess all the way back in 2017. The throwback tweet is accompanied by photos of Zegler dressed up in an Ariel costume from The Little Mermaid. In another tweet, Zegler posted photos of herself meeting the character of Snow White at one of Disney's theme parks alongside the caption, "homegirl we have LOTS to catch up on." Check out Zegler's tweets below:
Zegler is just the latest up-and-coming actress to be cast as one of Disney's live-action princesses. While the studio looked for more seasoned thespians for remakes like Beauty & the Beast and Maleficent, the studio is seeking out fresh talent for their films. They've cast The Little Mermaid, another live-action adaptation that is currently filming.
While Zegler's acting chops are so far untested on the big screen, it's clear that Disney has based their decision on brief glimpses of the actress' performance in West Side Story. Whether or not Zegler will be a huge draw for audiences remains to be seen, but Disney could flesh out the rest of the cast with bigger names to ensure interest in the film. Either way, it will be interesting to see what they do with this new version of Snow White when it hits theaters in the next couple of years.
Source: Rachel Zegler
