# Rachel Zegler

Rachel Anne Zegler (/ˈzɛɡlər/; born May 3, 2001) is an American actress and singer. She came to prominence with her film debut playing María in Steven Spielberg's musical adaptation West Side Story (2021), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
In 2023, she played Anthea in Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. She is set to star as Snow White in the 2025 film Snow White. She made her Broadway debut playing Juliet in a revival of Romeo + Juliet (2024) and is set to make her West End debut playing Eva Perón in a revival of Evita directed by Jamie Lloyd at the London Palladium.

## Early life

Rachel Anne Zegler was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on May 3, 2001, to Gina and Craig Zegler. She was named after the fictional character Rachel Green from the TV series Friends. She has an older sister named Jacklyn. Her mother is of Colombian descent. Her maternal grandmother immigrated from Barranquilla, Colombia, to the United States in the 1960s. Her father is of Polish descent.
She grew up in Clifton, New Jersey, where she faced racial discrimination as a child due to her mixed ethnicity. At the age of four, Zegler saw her first Broadway show, Beauty and the Beast. Since then, she has been a huge fan of the theater. Her first acting role came when she was 12, when she played Shprintze in a play of Fiddler on the Roof. It was then that she decided she wanted to be an actress, so she started taking voice and acting lessons.

## Career

Zegler began her career starring in several musicals while in high school, playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast (2016), Ariel in The Little Mermaid (2017), Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street (2018), and Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical (2019). For all four performances, she received Metro Award nominations in the Actress in a Leading Role category. Her other roles have included Serena in Legally Blonde, Cosette in Les Misérables, and Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Her YouTube channel has been active since July 2015 which garnered media coverage and positive critical reception. As of 2022, her video of herself singing "Shallow", from A Star Is Born, had garnered over 12.2 million views on Twitter.
In January 2018, director Steven Spielberg posted an open casting call via Twitter for a new film adaptation of West Side Story. Zegler, then 16 years old, responded to the casting call tweets with videos of herself singing "Tonight" and "I Feel Pretty"; she had performed the role at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in 2017. She was selected from over 30,000 applicants for the role of Maria, marking her film debut. The film was released in December 2021, and earned acclaim from critics and audiences. For her performance, she received a Critics' Choice Movie Award nomination for Best Young Performer and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, making her the first actress of Colombian descent to win in that category as well as the youngest winner in that category at 20 years old.
She starred as Anthea in the superhero film Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023). The film received mixed reviews. She played protagonist Lucy Gray Baird in the 2023 film adaptation of the Hunger Games prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The film received positive reviews. David Ehrlich of IndieWire praised Zegler writing, "[She] is absolutely captivating in a Wild Rose-coded performance that’s equal part Southern pluck and wide-eyed terror...it is a marvel of multiplex acting". Ehrlich also noted the nuances of her performance, adding "Zegler knows how to play nuance big enough for the back of the room to read it all over her face".
In October 2023, Zegler announced her exit from Paddington in Peru, attributing her departure to the SAG strike. Actress Carla Tous replaced Zegler in the role of Gina Cabot. She made an appearance in Kyle Mooney's directorial debut film Y2K, produced by A24, which debuted at the South by Southwest Festival in 2024 and was released on December 6 that year to mixed reception.
Zegler made her Broadway debut playing Juliet in a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, directed by Sam Gold with music by Jack Antonoff. Performances ran from September 26, 2024, to February 16, 2025. She voiced the lead character in the animated musical film Spellbound, directed by Vicky Jenson, which premiered on Netflix. She then played the titular character in Snow White (2025), a live-action adaptation of the 1937 animated Disney film. She is set to make her West End debut playing Eva Perón in a revival of Evita from June for a limited summer engagement until September at the London Palladium, with the show being directed by Jamie Lloyd.

## Public image

In 2021, Zegler was listed at number 34 on The Ringer's The Big Picture podcast's list of the top 35 actors under 35. She is included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2022 list. Also in 2021, AP Entertainment named her as one of the Breakthrough Entertainers of 2021. She was part of the in memoriam segment of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in honour of Stephen Sondheim, alongside Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, and Leslie Odom Jr.
She was initially not invited to attend the 94th Academy Awards ceremony of 2022 to support her colleagues involved in West Side Story, which received seven nominations, including Best Picture. After some controversy over the perceived snub in the media, the Academy invited her to be a presenter for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

## Personal life

In February 2021, Zegler and actor Josh Andrés Rivera confirmed that they were dating. The two had met on the set of West Side Story and later starred in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes together.
Zegler considers Barbra Streisand to be one of her primary influences. In 2021, Streisand sent Zegler a copy of her album Release Me 2 and a copy of the book Streisand From A to Z, along with a note reading, "For R., from B.," to which Zegler responded, "There's simply no way this is real!"

## Political views

Zegler has publicly supported Palestine in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict since 2021. In October 2023, she became a member of Artists4Ceasefire and signed their letter urging Joe Biden to facilitate a ceasefire to end Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip. In a January 2024 Instagram story, she urged her followers to pressure their government leaders to support a ceasefire in Gaza. In August 2024, she tweeted, "and always remember, free palestine".
In November 2024, Zegler criticized Donald Trump and his supporters, claiming there is a "deep, deep sickness" in the United States and accusing Trump of "threaten[ing] our democracy". She also wrote, "May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace." She later apologized for "contribut[ing] to the negative discourse".

## Filmography
### Film

Key :
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 2021 | West Side Story | María | |
| 2023 | Shazam! Fury of the Gods | Anthea | |
| 2023 | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | Lucy Gray Baird | |
| 2024 | Y2K | Laura | |
| 2024 | Spellbound | Princess Ellian | Voice role |
| 2025 | Snow White † | Snow White | Post-production |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 2024–2025 | Romeo + Juliet | Juliet | Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway |
| 2025 | Trisha Paytas' Big Broadway Dream! | Herself (One night only) | St. James Theatre, Broadway |
| 2025 | Evita | Eva Perón | London Palladium, West End |

### Podcast

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2021 | Princess of South Beach | Maria Del Carmen Gloria Calderon | Main role |

## Discography
### Soundtracks

List of soundtracks, with selected details :
| Title | Album details |
| West Side Story | Release date: December 3, 2021 Label: Hollywood |
| The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | Release date: November 17, 2023 Label: Geffen |

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | NZ Hot | Album |
| "Let Me Try" | 2021 | — | Non-album single |
| "Balcony Scene (Tonight)" (with Ansel Elgort) | 2021 | — | West Side Story |
| "The Hanging Tree" | 2023 | 19 | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes |
| "The Ballad of Lucy Gray Baird" | 2023 | 12 | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes |

### Other charted songs

List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | NZ Hot | Album |
| "Nothing You Can Take from Me" (Boot-Stompin' Version) (with the Covey Band) | 2023 | 13 | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes |
| "Pure as the Driven Snow" (with the Covey Band) | 2023 | 22 | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes |

### Other appearances

List of other appearances :
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "Days From Long Ago" | 2021 | Alejandro Rodriguez, Anna Ebbeson, Shakina Nayfack, Solea Pfeiffer | #IWriteMusicals: Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge (2020 edition) |
| "Your World/Safe" | 2021 | Alexia Sielo, Anna Ebbeson, Anna Jacobs, Henry Crater, Jared Goldsmith, Jason Gotay, Nick Cartell | #IWriteMusicals: Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge (2020 edition) |
| "Rey's Theme" | 2021 | None | The George Lucas Talk Show Original Livestream Series Soundtrack |
| "Mile Away" | 2023 | George Watsky | Intention |

## Accolades

List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Zegler :
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2021 | Chicago Film Critics Association | Most Promising Performer | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2021 | Florida Film Critics Circle | Pauline Kael Breakout Award | West Side Story | Runner-up |
| 2021 | Indiana Film Journalists Association | Breakout of the Year | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2021 | National Board of Review | Best Actress | West Side Story | Won |
| 2021 | North Texas Film Critics Association | Best Actress | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2021 | North Texas Film Critics Association | Best Newcomer | West Side Story | Won |
| 2021 | Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Youth Performance | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Breakthrough Performance | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Young Actor/Actress | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | DiscussingFilm Critics Awards | Best Debut Performance | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Dorian Awards | Rising Star of the Year | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Imagen Awards | Best Actress | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Georgia Film Critics Association | Best Actress | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Georgia Film Critics Association | Breakthrough Award | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | West Side Story | Won |
| 2022 | Music City Film Critics Association | Best Young Actress | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | North Carolina Film Critics Association | Best Breakthrough Performance | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2022 | Online Film and Television Association | Best Breakout Performance: Female | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2024 | People's Choice Awards | Action Movie Star of the Year | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | Won |
| 2024 | People's Choice Awards | Female Movie Star of the Year | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | Nominated |
| 2025 | Saturn Awards | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | Nominated |
| 2025 | iHeartRadio Music Awards | Favorite Broadway Debut | Romeo + Juliet | Won |