Disney responds to Peter Dinklage's criticism of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" remake
Actor Peter Dinklage said he was "taken aback" by Disney's upcoming remake of "Snow White," calling it a "backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave."
"They were very proud to cast a Latina 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, you know? It makes no sense to me," Dinklage, who has a form of dwarfism, said on Marc Maron's "WTF Podcast."
Rachel Zegler, who recently starred as Maria in Steve Spielberg's "West Side Story," has been cast to play Snow White.
"You're progressive in one way and you're still making that f**king backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f**k are you doing, man?" The "Game of Thrones" actor said, calling these choices "hypocrisy." He added that if Disney is going to do a "Snow White" with a progressive spin, "let's do it, all in."
In a statement to Entertainment Tonight, a spokesperson for Disney said "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."
The spokesperson said more will be shared "as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period." CBS News has also reached out to Disney for comment and is awaiting response.
During his interview with Maron, Dinklage said: "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?"
Dinklage stars in the upcoming "Cyrano de Bergerac," a film adaptation of the play written by Edmond Rostand in 1897. It's the tale of a man ashamed of his appearance who helps another man by ghost-writing love letters to woo Roxanne, the woman both men love.
He told "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl why he "begged" Erica Schmidt – an award-winning dramatist (and Dinklage's wife), who wrote and directed the stage adaptation – for the part. "Well, for an actor, you always wanna do something that – for me at least – that scares you. I know that sounds very valiant of me, but it's true. I just never had sung since I was a kid," Dinklage said on CBS Sunday Morning last month.
