Rachel Zegler’s upcoming Snow White is one of next year’s highly-anticipated film releases. Although the movie’s direction is under wraps, Zegler has talked about her role’s inspirations – including Brandy’s version of Cinderella.
In a recent interview with Variety, Zegler said she remembered spending her childhood “obsessing” over the 1997 film that starred Brandy as Cinderella and Whitney Houston as her fairy godmother. “I grew up in a house where that was Cinderella. Obviously, we watched the cartoon. But a child’s mind is the most amazing thing, where it’s just like, ‘OK, that’s Cinderella,’” she told Variety. “But the blond-haired, blue-eyed, blue-dress Cinderella from the 1950s cartoon is also Cinderella.”
In response to Zegler’s praise, Brandy told the same media outlet that the Colombian-American actress “will be absolutely incredible in this role.” The “Have You Ever” singer also gave Zegler advice to the backlash she has previously received about taking on the role.
“You’re not taking on this role to fit the mold of the critics,” she advised Zegler via Variety. “You’re doing this for every little Colombian girl who has yet to see themselves in a role like a Disney princess. You’re doing this for the little girl that you once were, who grew up without that representation of her Colombian culture. You are showing her that anything is possible for someone who looks like her, and that is the most important job in the world.”
In 2022, Zegler became a trending topic on X (formerly known as Twitter) due to social media users disagreeing with Snow White being portrayed by a Latina actress. In an “Actors on Actors” interview with Andrew Garfield, she opened up about the hate she received on social media. “We need to love them [the haters] in the right direction. At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I’m really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess,” she said.