Rachel Zegler didn't expect to land Snow White role

Rachel Zegler never expected to be cast as 'Snow White'.

The 20-year-old actress will play the titular role in Disney's live-action remake of the iconic fairytale and was stunned to be given the opportunity as an actress of Latin descent.

In a conversation with Andrew Garfield for Variety's 'Actors on Actors' series, Rachel said: "Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me.

"You don't normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent. Even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries. 'Blancanieves' is a huge icon whether you're talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it.

"But you don't particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that."

Rachel's casting as the classic character sparked a backlash from some users on social media but the 'West Side Story' star says she is determined to win over them with her performance in the film.

She recalled: "When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry.

"We need to love them in the right direction. At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I'm really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess."

The live-action remake of 'Snow White' has also caused controversy after criticism from actor Peter Dinklage – who suffers from a form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia – which took at him at the story's "f**ing backwards" depiction of dwarfs.

He said: "Literally no offence to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when 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. It makes no sense to me.

"You're progressive in one way but then you're still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man?"