Credit: Ryan Chase

WSPN’s Ryan Chase shares his thoughts on actress Rachel Zegler, whose recent comments on the live-acton remake of “Snow White” have caused controversy.

Some well-known actors and actresses have demonstrated support for the striking workers during the ongoing Hollywood strike, which is being driven by demands for fairer pay as the industry transitions to streaming. American actress, Rachel Zegler, however, has sparked controversy surrounding Disney’s newest version of “Snow White,” as she plays the lead role of  Snow White. Due to her open criticism about both her role as the star and the original story, some have consider boycotting the film.

Zegler has even been dubbed a walking public relations (PR) disaster by Sky News Australia. Rather than voicing her excitement for the movie, she has instead talked about all the things she dislikes about the original film. Zegler told the press that the prince in the original film was essentially a stalker due to him finding Snow White in the woods and following her.

Zegler went on to diminish her co-star, Andrew Burnap, who plays Prince Charming, saying “Maybe all of Andrew’s scenes will get cut, who knows.” She seemed bothered that people assumed it was a love story when in fact Disney had changed the script from a love story to one of female empowerment. It’s nonsensical for the lead actress to be upset by this assumption, as it’s a remake of one of the most famous fairy tales known today. “I’m sure a lot of people will assume it is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie,” Zegler stated.

It’s clear that Zegler has some entitlement that makes her think it’s okay to make such comments, but she comes across in the worst ways, like when she said “If I’m gonna stand there 18 hours in a dress, then I deserve to be paid for every hour that it is streamed online.” She was trying to show support for the SAG-AFTRA strike, but many members of SAG-AFTRA are highly-paid actresses like she is.

Some other actors and actresses have gone on strike as well, however, when Zegler complains about how much she is being paid, it just seems as if she is ungrateful for the millions of dollars she’s already making. Many writers and lesser-known actors need years to make what she is making in just one movie—a movie that she doesn’t seem entirely thrilled to be in.

Zegler’s negative comments about the original film have most likely swayed the original film’s fans from watching the new version. Comments like “the prince is basically a stalker” or “why would people just assume it’s a love story because there’s a guy in it,”  have made people reconsider watching this film. Most of the audience for this movie would have been fans of the original “Snow White.” However, when Zegler talks about how this movie is going to be so different from the original and how she thinks it’s now much better, deters prospective viewers from wanting to watch this movie. The remake of this historical film of Snow White has been tarnished and overshadowed by its own lead actress. Zegler has been dubbed a PR disaster which could ruin her career. Who would want to hire someone who openly has gone against them and the inspiration for the movie they were working on?

Now I ask what would you do? Would you scrap this project and start from scratch or try to salvage this burning ship?