Peter Dinklage says the new 'Snow White' live-action casting is hypocritically woke because of the dwarf characters

• The actor Peter Dinklage said the upcoming "Snow White" remake was hypocritically woke.
• He said the studio was "very proud" to cast a Latina actor but kept the "backward story" of dwarfs.

The actor Peter Dinklage said he was "taken aback" by what he sees as hypocrisy in the plan for Disney's live-action remake of "Snow White" starring a Latina actor, Rachel Zegler.

"It makes no sense to me, because you're progressive in one way and then you're still making that fucking backward story of seven dwarfs living in a cave," Dinklage said on the comedian Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast this week.

The subject came up after Dinklage and Maron spoke about the effect of politics on comedy and the premise of "woke" comedy versus "anti-woke" comedy (something Maron said was "fucking ridiculous").

"If you consider yourself anti-woke, then I think you're carrying water for right-wing propaganda, and I think that you're a hack," Maron said. "Because the job is to think for yourself. So, you know, if you can't find your voice in a world of diversity and respect, then what are you really? And if you can't transcend that by being respectful yet still provocative, then you're not really challenging yourself, are you?"

He continued: "Things evolve. I think that you can be as crass and as fucking vulgar and as fucking provocative as you want without saying a couple of words. You know what I mean? It's like, there's a lot of words we don't say anymore! This whole idea that we can't joke about anything has been around since the beginning of comedy."

"I know," Dinklage responded. "There's a lot of hypocrisy going on, I've gotta say, from being somebody who's a little bit unique. It's a front-row seat to some —"

"Really? Like what?" Maron asked. "What do you see?"

"Well, you know, it's really progressive to cast a — literally no offense to anybody, but I was a little taken aback by, they were very proud to cast a Latino actress as Snow White," Dinklage said, "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, because you're progressive in one way and then you're still making that fucking backward story of seven dwarfs living in a cave. What the fuck are you doing, man?"

Dinklage affected a bit of an accent, adding a hint of humor to his tone as he alluded to the "cause" of advocating against dwarf stereotypes.

"Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox?" he said as Maron started laughing. "I guess I'm not loud enough."

He said that while he had "all love and respect" for Zegler and "the people who thought they were doing the right thing," he still felt the move was hypocritical.

"If you tell the story of 'Snow White' with the most fucked-up, cool, progressive spin on it — let's do it!" he said.

Maron said the "Snow White" reboot was a "no-brainer" because the studio could "win by appearing to be progressive by casting a Latina" and "just run money through this story again."

"I don't think anybody has ever probably, other than what I just heard just now, said, 'You know, this is — the dwarf community is tired of this shit,'" Maron said.

"Is there one? I don't know," Dinklage said, adding: "It's such a minority. And I'm not affiliated with any groups or anything, but it's such a minority that it causes a real, like, 'Well, who the fuck cares?'"

In 2018, while promoting the HBO film "My Dinner with Hervé," Dinklage spoke with Entertainment Weekly about how opportunities for dwarf actors might have changed in Hollywood since the '80s. He said that while he wouldn't want to be critical of others' choices, and while he knows bills must be paid, certain stories could perpetuate harmful tropes.

"Not to get too political about it, but it's a stereotype that still exists," he said. "Dwarf tossing still exists. There are still people of my size dressing up as elves at Christmas time. And if everybody continues to do that, then it won't stop. But my daughter doesn't think I'm a mythical creature. Unicorns don't exist, but I do. It's tricky, what we put out there, to perpetuate for future generations."

Dinklage is starring in "Cyrano," a retelling of a classic tale, which arrives in theaters on February 27.