Peter Dinklage has criticised Disney’s upcoming Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remake, calling the story “f***ing backwards”.
The actor was discussing the concept of “wokeness” on the latest episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast when he made his comments about the live-action remake, which will star Rachel Zegler as the princess.
“I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White,” he said.
“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. It makes no sense to me.
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“You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing man?”
The 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs film was based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The dwarfs in the original story and the Disney film did not live in a cave, but rather a cottage.
In other versions of the tale, including in Belgium and the Netherlands, Snow White is befriended by 17 robbers who live in a cave, rather than seven dwarfs who live in a cottage.
Dinklage, 52, added: “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 Independent has contacted Disney for comment.
The story has previously been criticised for being ableist because several of the dwarfs are depicted as being stupid or clumsy, and in the film, Snow White assumes they are all children.
Dinklage can next be seen in Cyrano, a new musical adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, out in the UK next month.
Directed by Joe Wright, it’s the film version of a 2019 Broadway play in which Dinklage also starred, written by Erica Schmidt. Her version is based on the original play, written by 1897 by Edmond Rostand, which fictionalises the real-life story of a 17th-century French writer and duellist.
Watch: A First Look At Cyrano
