Considering how many classic animated Disney movies have been remade in live-action over the last decade, it was only a matter of time before the Mouse House’s first feature-length movie received such treatment. 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs changed the cinematic landscape by showing that animated stories didn’t have to be limited to just shorts, and among its many other accomplishments and accolades was netting Walt Disney an Academy Honorary Award for being "a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field.” While the 2010s delivered live-action Snow White movies in the form of Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror, the 2020s are the time for this particular version of the fairy tale character to shine in a different way.
Like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid before it (among others), Snow White looks like it will be a more straightforward remake of the original animated movies, but with certain elements updated to make it more appropriate for contemporary audiences, as opposed to delivering a drastically different story along the lines of Maleficent and Dumbo. While we continue to wait for the first official footage, let’s go over who’s been announced or reported to appear in the Snow White remake, starting with two main performers, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.
Rachel Zegler
Rachel Zegler made a big splash in Hollywood right out the gate when she made her theatrical debut as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake. That was followed in 2023 by Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, where she respectively played Anthea and Lucy Gray Baird. It’s probably safe to say though that Snow White is her biggest role yet, though this has come with a price. Zegler has dealt with backlash ever since being cast as the Disney Princess, to the point it was even briefly rumored she’d been fired from the upcoming Disney movie. As for what we can expect from Zegler’s version of Snow White, the actress has said that in the remake, her character will have more agency and not be “saved” by the Prince.
Gal Gadot
Prior to 2016, Gal Gadot was best known for playing Gisele Yashar in the Fast & Furious franchise, a role she surprisingly reprised in Fast X. Then she was cast to play Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, starting with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. From there, her profile skyrocketed, and she also scored major roles in Ralph Breaks the Internet, Red Notice, Death on the Nile and Heart of Stone. In Snow White, she’ll play The Evil Queen, who becomes envious of her stepdaughter’s beauty and seeks to eliminate her so that she will stay “fairest in all the land.” Because this is a musical, Gadot was able to “stretch” her performance and “make it so much more dramatic and so much more animated,” and that included changing her voice.
Ansu Kabia
In Disney’s original adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Evil Queen tasks The Huntsman to take her stepdaughter deep into the forest to kill her. However, when the time comes to carry out the deed, The Huntsman can’t bring himself to do it and instructs Snow White to flee and never return to the castle. In the live-action remake, this character will be played by Ansu Kabia, who briefly appeared in movies like Murder on the Orient Express and Hobbs & Shaw, and has also been seen in TV shows like I May Destroy You, Miss Scarlet & the Duke, The Irregulars and The Sandman.
Andrew Burnap
Remember how Rachel Zegler said The Prince won’t be saving Snow White in this movie? That’s because The Prince isn’t appearing in it at all. Instead, a new character named Jonathan is reportedly filling in as Snow White’s main male lead. Played by Andrew Burnap, Jonathan is expected to sing, but no other details have been revealed about him yet. Along with his extensive stage work, including winning a Tony Award for The Inheritance and playing King Arthur in Broadway’s revival of Camelot, Burnap is well known for starring in Apple TV+’s WeCrashed and Hulu’s Under the Banner of Heaven.
Martin Klebba
So far only one of the seven dwarfs’ actors in Snow White has been revealed, with actor Martin Klebba sharing at a fan convention in summer 2022 (via Comicbook.com) that he’s playing Grumpy. However, with the reveal that the dwarfs in the remake will be CGI creations, it’s unclear if we’ll now only hear Klebba’s voice or if the role may be recast at some point. Klebba’s most prominent role is arguably Marty in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and he also already has Snow White adaptation experience from the 2001 TV movie Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, where he played Friday, the blue dwarf, and Mirror Mirror, where he played Butcher.
Colin Michael Carmichael
Finally, we have Colin Michael Carmichael, whose role in Snow White is undisclosed for now. Carmichael has chiefly guest starred on TV shows like Black Mirror, EastEnders, Midsomer Murders and Outlander, but Hot Fuzz fans will remember him for playing a Heston Services Clerk. He’s also appearing in Jon Chu’s two-part theatrical adaption of Wicked as Nikidik.
Directed by Marc Webb and written by Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson, Snow White is arriving in theaters on March 21, 2025, having been pushed back a year due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Keep checking back here for more additions to the cast, and if you’re wondering about movies arriving sooner, spend some time read through our 2023 release schedule and 2024 release schedule.
