Harvey Guillén is “optimistic” we’re headed toward a world with a queer Disney princess. The What We Do In The Shadows and Wish actor said this week he thinks “we are in the lifespan of that potentially happening.”
“I think they’re making strides in the right direction,” Guillén told ComicBook.com of Disney’s queer representation. “I think it’s hard to rebuild a wheel that’s already been in motion for a while, and it’s hard to think of a new direction, especially in where we’re at with the world, but they’re putting their best foot forward, I think. And sometimes those things take time and I’m optimistic. And like you said, if a queer princess comes along, that’d be fantastic.”
Guillén played Gabo in Disney’s recent Wish, a character inspired by Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney had made slow progress toward LGBTQ character representation in its last decade of projects, including small moments in Onward, Eternals, Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the live action Beauty and the Beat, Finding Dory, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Zootopia. In more recent years, the animated Strange World and live-action High School Musical: The Musical: The Series both include queer romance subplots from supporting characters.
Guillén continued this week, “It takes time with stuff like that. Representation has taken so long just in film in general with every studio and every company. And so it’s taken us this far to come this far but look how far we’ve gotten.”