Trailer of 'Snow White' with Rachel Zegler redefining Latinidad and whiteness

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The new trailer for Disney’s “Snow White" is finally out, starring Colombian American Rachel Zegler as Snow White. 

Casting Zegler as the fairy tale princess has been controversial. Critics have said she’s not “white enough,” and the actress has also been criticized for not being Latina enough. 

“Because I’m a white Latina, I hold a lot of privilege, and if that’s a conversation people want to have, about my privilege in this industry, then I am absolutely welcome to have that conversation,” Zegler said. “Because yeah, it falls on my shoulders to open up the doors for the people who aren’t – or they are disenfranchised in this industry.” 

Whether Zegler is Latina or white enough for audiences, it is clear through her statements that she is aware it’s a conversation people continue to discuss. Latina identity, or Latinidad, is an elusive and abstract concept. Who gets to decide how Latino you are? How many degrees of separation must exist between individuals and Latin America to be considered Latino? And what does it even mean? 

"Like I said, I'm a white Latina. I don't get stopped on the street for the way that I look. That's my privilege, but when I speak Spanish on the subway, I've been spit on. I've been told to go back to where I came from, even when I was born in suburban New Jersey,” Zegler told Variety. “It doesn't matter to these people. But they're the same people that will hide behind a profile on Twitter and tell me that because my dad is American or because my mom wasn't born in Colombia or because I wasn't born in Colombia that my identity is invalid."⁠

In the trailer, the evil queen, played by Gal Gadot, tells Snow White “I don’t remember you being this opinionated,” which highlights the friction between the queen and the princess, who is fighting for her people and the kingdom. “The people need kindness,” Snow White says to the queen. The story that the trailer shows is more about Snow White representing kindness and well-being for her people and the queen being a tyrant. This is far from the helpless princess fairy tale that the original Disney movie showed.  

The new trailer showcases the digitally-created seven dwarves –  Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy – and a first look at the power ballad “Waiting on a Wish,” one of the original songs from EGOT winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul from “The Greatest Showman.”

“Disney’s Snow White,” the live-action musical reimagining of the studio’s classic 1937 film, opens in theaters on March 21, 2025.