Disney has issued a response over its upcoming live-action “Snow White” remake following criticisms made by Peter Dinklage. The “Game of Thrones” Emmy winner blasted the Disney remake during an interview on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, calling out the fairytale’s “fucking backwards” depictions of dwarfs.
“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,” a spokesperson for Disney said in a statement to Variety. “We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
More from Variety
The live-action “Snow White” film is being directed by Marc Webb, best known for helming “500 Days of Summer” and the Andrew Garfield-starring “Amazing Spider-Man” movies. “West Side Story” breakout Rachel Zegler is starring in the title role, with Gal Gadot also on board as the villainous Evil Queen. Dinklage said he was “a little taken aback” when the studio celebrated casting “a Latina actress as Snow White” despite telling a story with a problematic representation of dwarfs.
Related video: Jordanian soccer players with dwarfism aim for world stage
“Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me,” Dinklage said. “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 continued, “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?”
Disney’s live-action “Snow White” will begin production this year. The studio has not yet announced a release date.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
