Actor and wrestler Dylan Postl has spoken out after it emerged that the dwarfs in the live-action remake of "Snow White" have been replaced by "seven magical creatures."
The actor with dwarfism pointed out in an essay for the Daily Mail that, "one of those seven looks to be a guy of about my height, 4ft 5in. But the rest are normal 'people of average height' or, as I like to call them, 'Normies'."
"Snow White, The Dwarf And The Six Normies — it doesn't quite have the same ring," he continued.
"The 'magical creatures' are a mixture of races and genders, and we all applaud that," he added. "But they're sacrificing the careers of short people to achieve diversity. And that does not sit right with me. The studio doesn't seem to be aware that dwarfs are also born in all races and genders."
Postl pointed out that the original "Snow White" animation does not reinforce stereotypes by including the seven dwarfs in the storyline. Instead, he wrote, the timeless cartoon "teaches children that height doesn't matter so much. Everybody is different — that's the message, and the true meaning of diversity."
Postl also criticized the upcoming "Wonka" film for casting Hugh Grant as the Oompa Loompa rather than an actor with dwarfism.
Director Paul King used computer-generated imagery (CGI) to achieve the desired visual effects for Grant's Oompa Loompa, but Postl argued during an appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" that this was unnecessary.
"So now, we're not only using CGI and spending extra money and funding for these movies when we could just cast dwarfs in that role," he said.
"Now you're taking at least one role away, or multiple roles away, for Oompa Loompa characters," Postl continued. "That's what they were in the past."
Postl emphasized that opportunities in his community are already limited.
"These roles — roles in Hollywood in general — are very hard for people of my community to get, besides the elf and the leprechaun. So why are they being taken from my community?" he said.
Commenting on the upcoming "Snow White" and "Wonka" films, he added: "These are roles made for actors of my stature … I can't go for the Harrison Ford or the George Clooney roles. I don't feel that's right that it got taken away from us."