Who is Rachel Zegler? All About the 20-Year-Old Cast as Maria in the New “West Side Story”
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Rachel Zegler is living a theater kid's dream. In 2019, she was cast as Maria in Steven Spielberg's upcoming adaption of West Side Story alongside Ansel Elgort after submitting a video for an open casting call. Want to know more about the former New Jersey high school student with a voice of gold? Here are some facts about Rachel!
1. She's 20 years old. Rachel just celebrated her birthday on May 3 — we love a Taurus queen.
2. She's from New Jersey. She was only a senior in high school when she was cast for West Side Story.
3. She's a theater kid. Her YouTube channel is filled with Broadway covers and she's starred in a lot of local productions. She once said her favorite role is a tie between Cosette in Les Misérables and Maria in West Side Story!
4. She has played Maria before. In an Instagram post about getting cast as the iconic role, she wrote: "When I played Maria on stage a few summers ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the role again in Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story'."
4. She went viral on Twitter. To prove to her followers that she doesn't use autotune, Rachel performed that famous riff from Lady Gaga's "Shallow" in an empty auditorium and absolutely killed it. The video went viral, as did a full cover of the song on her Youtube channel.
someone: you use autotune😤😤😤😤
me: pic.twitter.com/9sPBkDj2kf— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) December 14, 2018
5. She is Colombian-American. Which makes the role of Maria all the more important to her. “West Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character," she told the Hollywood Reporter. "As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.”
6. She got the role of Maria through an open casting call. The director, Steven Spielberg held an open casting call for Latinx actors. Rachel submitted a video of her singing "Tonight" and "Me Siento Hermosa," two songs from the movie, and she beat out tens of thousands of other people for the part.
7. She just attended her first Met Gala. Rachel recently made her way up the Met steps in a Tarot card-inspired gown, thanks to an invite from Victoria's Secret.
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