The End of Disney’s Girl Boss Celeb Era: Rachel Zegler of Snow White and Amandla Stenberg of Acolyte Are Done

Rachel Zegler burst onto the scene with powerful performances in West Side Story (2021) and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023). Discovered by Steven Spielberg, she was a force to be reckoned with if even if both her first films flopped terribly at the box office. But more than just being an abrasive young star with a talented vocal ability, Zegler also took on the role of shaming audiences. When announced as the leading lady in Snow White, she proudly declared that she would not be bleaching her skin, that the original movie was dated and that she would not need a prince to save her in the upcoming film. Disney’s Snow White remake, released March 2025 to horrific reception. Despite her self-perceived, luminous performance, the film became a costly misfire, grossing about $205–206 million globally against a massive $400 million to $500 million spend on production and marketing, earning the dubious label of a historic box-office flop.

Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot Explain that Disney’s Live-Action Remake of Snow White Won’t Have the Prince Save the Day.

“She’s Not Going to be Dreaming About True Love, She’s Dreaming About the Leader She Knows She Can Be”

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— Geeks + Gamers (@GeeksGamersCom) July 23, 2023

In the aftermath of this polarizing performance and public image, Zegler has only one confirmed upcoming project: She Gets It From Me, a modest drama co-starring Marisa Tomei, directed by Julia von Heinz. While the film may offer a chance at redemption, it’s no blockbuster. For someone once attached to high-profile Disney fare, the shift is stark—and hardly encouraging for her near-future trajectory. Additionally, her Evita run in London is over and there has been no announcement of anything additional for the former Snow White. Truly, her time to shine has come to an end.

But she’s not the only one. Let’s talk about the “dis track” queen of Star Wars.

Amandla Stenberg, the star of Star Wars: The Acolyte, decided to pull the racism card and “own the haters” by flailing around like a fish out of water gasping for air while singing about how oppressed she is.

This is what Star Wars is now. pic.twitter.com/p35XyJXCP2

— MasteroftheTDS (@MasteroftheTDS) June 20, 2024

Amandla Stenberg has also been unafraid to speak their mind, from early recognition in The Hunger Games (2012) and The Hate U Give (2018) to recent roles in genre and indie fare like Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) and My Animal (2023).

Looking ahead, Stenberg has almost no roles attached to her name. She has a minor speaking cameo in the next Spiderverse film from Sony, a holdover from when she was believed to have staying power, and will appear in the adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, slated for release January 15, 2027.

(L-R): Osha Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) and the Stranger in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

Despite a few minor television projects, none scheduled before 2027 stand out as major career vehicles—an unusual paucity for someone of Stenberg’s talent, representation, and previous cultural cachet. It’s reasonable to suggest that Stenberg’s bold public persona—especially on issues of identity, politics, and diversity—might be contributing to an industry tendency to hesitate on confidently backing them in more mainstream or immediate roles.

Both Rachel Zegler and Amandla Stenberg are undeniably gifted, with early critical acclaim and demonstrated acting range. Yet their candid public voices, once cheered on by their compatriots who could care less these days about the destruction of their careers, appear to have complicated their paths in studio Hollywood.

• For Zegler, the high-budget flop of Snow White is less about her performance and more about a backlash amplified by her outspoken stances;  she’s now relegated to lower-profile, earnest indie dramas (at best).

• For Stenberg, despite consistent talent and diverse upcoming credits, the lack of major near-term film projects might well reflect cautious risk-management by studios seeking to avoid controversy.

(L-R): Osha Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) and the Stranger in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

In both cases, the underlying narrative is clear: Hollywood still responds to optics and controversy more than pure talent. For these rising icons, their abrasiveness may now be a liability—limiting their access to the big stages they once seemed destined for. And those who cheered them on while they decimated their careers were like Splatz-drenched destroyers, applauding them as they unknowingly drove their prospects straight off a cliff.

But such is the path of post-modernism in Hollywood. After all, it’s all about who can get the mob a little more power before they’re discarded as the useful tools they never realized they had become.