Disney reveals Colombian-American actress Rachel Zegler will play Snow White

Disney has announced who will play Snow White in the upcoming live-action adaptation which will start filming later this year.

Disney has announced who will play Snow White in the upcoming live-action adaptation.

The role has gone to Colombian-American actress Rachel Zegler.

Zegler, 20, is currently largely unknown to audiences but will soon star as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s much-delayed remake of West Side Story.

Rachel Zegler (second from right) will play Snow White.

The casting of a Latino actress for a Disney princess role traditionally portrayed by white actresses follows Disney’s 2019 announcement that R&B singer Halle Bailey, who is a person of colour, will play Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

“Rachel’s extraordinary vocal abilities are just the beginning of her gifts,” the director of the Snow White adaptation, Marc Webb, said in a statement to AFP.

“Her strength, intelligence and optimism will become an integral part of rediscovering the joy in this classic Disney fairytale.”

Rachel Zegler.

Halle Bailey. Picture: Robyn Beck / AFP

After the news was announced, Zegler wrote on Instagram: “well … hello to a dream come true.”

Zegler’s casting comes more than two decades after Disney cast singer Brandy as Cinderella in a live-action 1997 film.

Disney later came under fire in 2018 for “whitewashing” Princess Tiana in animated film Ralph Breaks the internet, hastily redrawing the character with darker features just months before the film’s release.

Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello is set to appear as Cinderella in yet another live-action adaptation later this year, produced by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures and set for release on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Production on Disney’s untitled Snow White film is expected to begin next year.

Rachel Zegler.

Camila Cabello. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images