For those who have grown up watching Walt Disney’s animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, they may have missed the part where the Evil Queen broke out into a song and dance number just before setting off to poison the girl with skin white as snow. In Disney’s new live-action retelling of their groundbreaking 1937 movie, Gal Gadot will be taking on the role of Snow White’s evil royal stepmother opposite Rachel Zegler in the title role, and according to the Wonder Woman actress, she will be singing and dancing in the role.
While Gal Gadot has been more of an action star on screen, whether as Amazonian Diana Prince in the DCEU, peeling out in the Fast and Furious franchise or getting caught up with Dwayne Johnson in Red Notice, her upcoming role in Snow White is going to see her doing a little bit of what led to a lot of ridicule back at the start of the Covid pandemic. She told Forbes:
"I love it (laughs)! It's fun, I get to do something different. I get to sing and I get to dance and I get to play the villain, which is something that I've never done before – and it's the first Disney villain ever. I really enjoy working with all people involved, with Marc Webb [directing] and Marc Platt producing and Disney, of course, [actress] Rachel Zegler. It's just a great experience and I really, really enjoy it and The Evil Queen is very evil, so it's going to be interesting."
Of course, many people remember Gadot appearing in an online collaborative effort that saw her and several other stars running through a rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine back when the pandemic was forcing countries into lockdown, and no one knew exactly what was happening. While it was an uplifting moment for some, there were plenty who aired their opinion on the internet that it was nothing but a “cringe-fest.” Hopefully, her vocal turn in Snow White fares better.
Snow White Has Already Had a Lot of Issues to Contend With
As the first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has a special place in cinematic history. However, that does not mean that the remake is welcomed by all for some of its production choices. Disney has had criticism from actor Peter Dinklage, who called out the movie as “backward” and “reinforcing negative stereotypes” when it comes to dwarfism. This view was not shared by all, with actor Dylan Postl attacking Dinklage’s opinion for having potentially stopped seven actors with dwarfism from getting roles. At the time, it was thought that Disney was going to replace the dwarfs in the film with “magical creatures” instead.
Following that issue, the film was also hit by those criticizing the choice of Rachel Zegler as Snow White, questioning why an actress of Latin descent was being cast as a character with a name derived from her pure white skin. Thankfully, Zegler has been able to shake off the social media outcry and is looking forward to taking on the role of Disney’s first princess.