Disney is vowing to be the fairest of them all.
After “Game of Thrones” actor Peter Dinklage ripped the studio’s upcoming live-action remake of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” calling it a “f–king backwards story,” Disney said it had been working with the “dwarfism community” 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 Disney spokesperson said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Emmy Award-winning actor, who has a form of dwarfism, had on Monday accused Disney of double standards when it comes to casting.
In an interview with podcast host Marc Maron, Dinklage commented on Disney’s choice of casting a Latina to play Snow White while still telling a story seen by many as insensitive over its portrayal of people with dwarfism.
“Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White,” Dinklage said on Monday’s episode of the “WTF with Marc Maron” podcast.
“But you’re still telling the story of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,'” he added. “Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me,” he said.
The 52-year-old actor, who’s currently promoting his new film, the musical drama “Cyrano,” was referring to the casting of Rachel Zegler in the title role opposite Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
The 20-year-old Zegler, who is of Colombian and Polish descent, won the Golden Globe Award for best actress in a musical or comedy this month for her role as Maria in “West Side Story.”
“You’re progressive in one way, but then 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?” Dinklage said on the podcast.
“Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? 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?”
Michelle Krause, spokeswoman for Little People of America, said the organization wants to see Disney change the stereotypes perpetuated in the film.
“We do not endorse or support people with dwarfism being portrayed as a likeness or represented by fairy tale characters but as people with an enriching and productive existence. … As Peter said, if Disney can update the character of Snow White to fit today’s perceptions of what a strong female character should be, they can also put in the work to disassociate the seven dwarfs from humans living with dwarfism,” she said in a statement.
The film is set to be released in 2023.
