On Monday’s episode of Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, the “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage said he was stunned to learn that Disney was doing a live-action remake of the 1937 animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” — and more so, that Disney was proud to announce that it had cast a Latina actress, Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”), as the lead.
“Literally no offense to anything, but I was sort of taken aback,” said Dinklage, who won four Emmys for his role in the HBO fantasy epic. “They were very proud to cast a Latino actress as Snow White, but you’re still telling the story of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me.”
“You’re progressive in one way,” he continued, “but you’re still making that [expletive] backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.”
“Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox?” he asked. “I guess I’m not loud enough.”
Dinklage, who stars in the upcoming film “Cyrano,” an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” said he was not opposed to a remake of the classic fairy tale, as long as it were given a “cool, progressive spin,” he said. “Let’s do it. All in.”
In a statement on Tuesday, a Disney spokesperson said that “to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.” Disney added that the film was still a long way out from production.
Marc Webb will direct the new “Snow White,” and Gal Gadot has been cast as the Evil Queen.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
