No./16 Shaking up the Disney princess
Rachel Zegler on her fresh, live-action spin on Snow White
HOW DO YOU bring Disney’s first-ever animated princess into the 21st century? This is the task that Rachel Zegler — the star of the upcoming live-action adaptation of the 1937 classic — has not taken on lightly. “I think it’s going to be really important for young people to see that woman in a position of power,” she tells Empire.
The West Side Story breakout star is due to begin shooting the film later this year. Directed by The Amazing Spider-man’s Marc Webb, the contemporary fairy tale will expand on the music and story of the original film, with new songs from Pasek and Paul, the writing duo behind The Greatest Showman and La La Land. “It’s less about, ‘Someday my prince will come,’ and more, ‘Someday I’ll be able to rule a kingdom with confidence and courage,’” she says.
Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot, co-stars as the Evil Queen, although Zegler teases that their paths may have already crossed — the latter makes her DC debut in Shazam! Fury Of The Gods in 2023, a film rumoured to feature a Gadot cameo. “I’m not going to say much, but this was not our first meeting,” Zegler hints. What she can confirm is that this evil queen will be no archetypal villain. “[Gal’s] got so many fresh ideas for what an evil queen really looks like, and what it means to be ‘the fairest of them all’, which is what’s at the core of our film,” she explains. It looks like Prince Charming can take a day off; this progressive princess has got things covered.
THE YET-TO-BE-TITLED SNOW WHITE MOVIE WILL BE OUT IN 2023