UPDATED 1/25, 3:50 p.m. ET: Disney responded to Peter Dinklage’s criticism of its upcoming Snow White movie.
“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. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period,” the company said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
See original story below.
Peter Dinklage believes that the new live-action adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is “fucking backwards.”
Speaking on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, the actor said that while Disney was pleased with itself for casting a Latina actress to play Snow White, the studio neglected to address other stereotypes it was playing into, with Dinklage pointing to the dwarfs, per The Guardian. “Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me,” the actor told Maron.
“You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that fucking backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the fuck are you doing, man?” Dinklage said. “Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soap box? I guess I’m not loud enough. I don’t know which studio that is, but they were so proud of it. All love and respect to the actress and all the people who thought they were doing the right thing. But I’m just like, what are you doing?”
The live-action Snow White stars Rachel Zegler, who recently appeared in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Helmed by Marc Webb, and starring Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, it’s said to be a reimagining of the beloved fairytale.
Dinklage, who was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, said that he would be “all in” if the story was told with “the most fucked up, cool, or progressive spin.”
Back in 2012, Universal Pictures released another version of the classic tale, titled Snow White and the Huntsman with Kristen Stewart. However, it was mired in controversy when the faces of actors who didn’t have dwarfism—like Bob Hoskins and Ian McShane—were superimposed onto smaller bodies.
