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“it takes a village to bring stories like ‘snow white’ to the big screen and i loved this one so very much. here’s a little glimpse into this family i came to care for deeply,” the actress wrote in one of her Instagram posts, none of which featured Gadot.
Rachel Zegler is celebrating the release of Snow White, honoring the cast and crew of the film, with one exception: her costar Gal Gadot.
On Thursday and Friday, the actress — who plays the titular character in the Disney live-action remake — shared heartfelt Instagram posts, in which she reflected on the “life-changing experience” starring in the film, and gave a shoutout to her Snow White “family.”
However, it didn’t go unnoticed by fans that Zegler did not share a single photo of Gadot — who played the Evil Queen — nor even mention her costar.
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In Thursday’s Instagram post, Zegler, 23, shared a carousel of over a dozen behind-the-scenes photos from the film’s London set as she opened up about portraying Disney princess in the film, which was released on March 21.
“this movie was a life-changing experience that has held about four years of my career. the growing up you do from the age of twenty (when i was cast) to twenty-three (the age i am now) cannot be accurately described, yet they exist here on film forever,” she began in her caption. “i became a real adult during the course of this film — learned hard lessons, did hard things, laughed, cried, turned 21, lived across the ocean from my family, made new friends, and completely fell in love with this group of people i got to work with for three magical summers in London.”
“we had the greatest crew in the world on this movie. it cannot be overstated. this photo dump doesn’t even dig into the fun, the magic, and the love that was shared throughout this process. but it’s a start,” she added. “‘snow white’ is now in theaters. it’s a huge chunk of my heart and it’s now yours. i hope you enjoy and feel the magic we were lucky enough to live each day. and remember, you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine. ❤️🍎❄️.”
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Zegler posted another Snow White Instagram tribute on Friday, in which she expressed her gratitude toward 20 members of the cast and crew, including her costars, Andrew Burnap and Dujonna Gift, and the film’s director, Marc Webb.
“all the love in the world for marc webb, our lovely director, who brought so much joy and excitement to this set each day with the intention of making a ‘snow white’ for his daughter’s generation,” she said of Webb.
In the caption of the post, which featured another carousel of behind-the-scenes photos, Zegler wrote, “it takes a village to bring stories like ‘snow white’ to the big screen and i loved this one so very much. here’s a little glimpse into this family i came to care for deeply. catch them all in action both in front of and behind the camera, in theaters now. ❤️🍎❄️🗡️🪞💎⛏️.”
The West Side Story star went on to share a second post on Friday, in which she gave a shoutout to her team, honoring her publicist, stylist, and glam squad.
“press in the city i call home will always be pretty darn cool — thanks nyc for all the snow white love :’),” Zegler captioned a series of photos from the New York City stop on her press tour. “and now that this tour has come to a close i can say a huge thank you to my TEAM who traveled with me all around the world because a) they’re my emotional support and b) they make me feel beautiful in front of a million flashing cameras!”
She then shared special messages for her team.
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Despite mentioning a large handful of people who worked on the film in her three posts, Gadot was not mentioned once.
This comes amid rumors of a feud between Zegler and Gadot, which reportedly began on the set of Snow White.
A source told PEOPLE there is “tension” between the actresses, saying they have “nothing in common.”
“On top of that, their political views differ, adding to the tension,” the insider added.
It’s been reported that Zegler and Gadot clashed regarding their contrasting views on the Israel-Hamas war, according to TMZ. Zegler is an outspoken supporter of Palestine, while Gadot has continued to publicly support her native Israel. (At the actress’ Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony earlier this week, a fight broke out between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters, per TMZ.)
Despite this, Zegler and Gadot posed together for group photos at the Snow White premiere in Los Angeles, which was scaled back and did not feature any press. However, they did not participate in interviews or other press appearances together.
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In addition to the rumored tension between Zegler and Gadot, the film was met with multiple controversies, including backlash over Zegler’s casting over the fact that she is a Latina in the lead role.
There has also been criticism over Zegler’s past remarks about the original film and her opinions on the 1937 classic’s outdated themes, like when she told Extra TV in 2022 that the animated film focused too much on a love story with “a guy who literally stalks her.”
In a separate Entertainment Weekly interview, Zegler admitted she had only watched the original movie once as a child because she found it frightening and never revisited it until she was cast.
The live-action remake was also met with criticism over its portrayal of Little People for the roles of the Seven Dwarfs. Instead of casting actors who are Little People, the studio used computer-generated characters.
Following the backlash, including from Peter Dinklage, Disney released a statement: “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.”
Snow White is in theaters now.
