Jackass' Wee Man Doesn't Agree With Disney's Snow White Live Action Remake
Another prominent performer with dwarfism is speaking up about the dwindling opportunities for his contemporaries following the recent leak of photos from the set of Walt Disney Studios' live-action adaptation of the studio's animated classic "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
Disney's "Snow White" live-action remake casting infuriated fans in mid-July 2023 when alleged photos from the set were published online. In the photos — which Disney confirmed were authentic but unauthorized — stand-ins for Snow White actor Rachel Zegler and her seven companions were featured, but only one of the stand-ins had dwarfism. The other six stand-ins were taller and the group was racially diverse. The seven characters in the 1937 Disney animated film were all Caucasian males.
Addressing the controversy, "Jackass" star Jason "Wee Man" Acuña said the casting was not good news for his fellow dwarf performers. "It's a bad thing. I'm not agreeing with it," Acuna told TMZ in a video interview. "One, because what they're doing is pretty much replacing jobs that people could have as little people. 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' It's for dwarves."
The Snow White casting controversy was ignited by Peter Dinklage's criticism of Disney
Jason Acuña's observations about the controversial casting move come about seven months after "Game of Thrones" Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage had strong words about the upcoming live-action Disney remake of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
As an actor with dwarfism, Dinklage was incensed at the notion of little people being cast as Snow White's seven companions. In late January of 2023, Dinklage told the host of the "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast that Disney seemed to be on the right track with their inclusion initiatives with the casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White but bristled at the idea of casting dwarf actors in the key supporting roles. "They were very proud to cast a Latino actress as Snow White but you're still telling the story of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.' Take a step back and look at what you're doing there," Dinklage said. "It makes no sense to me because you're progressive in one way and you're still making that f***ing backward story about seven dwarves living in a cave."
A day after the podcast went online, Disney took Dinklage's "Snow White" criticism to heart and in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, vowed to avoid reinforcing the stereotypes that arose from the 1937 film and promised to consult with the dwarfism community to take a different approach to the characters.
Acuña thinks Disney should scrap current Snow White and recast with dwarf actors
During the TMZ interview, Jason Acuña agreed with Peter Dinklage's stance about the casting of dwarf actors because it typecasts people with dwarfism. "It totally does ... it's not affecting me, personally," the "Jackass" star said. "That's why I didn't speak out about it [previously]. That's why I'm surprised TMZ is coming to me with this — it's awesome, though, I love TMZ — but I do think this is 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.'"
Still, Acuña added, the casting of anybody but dwarf actors in the "Snow White" movie simply doesn't make sense within the framework of the story. "Why are you hiring Snow White and the Seven Average People? If that's what want to do then I guess they're going to have a lot of people angry at them," Acuña told the outlet.
To avoid additional blowback, Acuña said he has a simple solution for Disney. "If they want to make it right, they need to re-do the movie and they recast, and they get Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ... sometimes you have to lose," he said. "They lost it, then, and now they gotta come back better. Make it better, Disney."
Acuña also touched on the casting of Hugh Grant playing an Oompa Loompa in the upcoming "Wonka" movie. Recalling for the outlet a recent conversation with a friend, he said, "What we were discussing, the other day, too, is the 'Wonka' movie and now Hugh Grant is now playing an Oompa Loompa? So, I guess, Hugh Grant, you're now identifying as a little person. Ha! Interesting. Wow."