Rachel Zegler

DarkOmenKnight · December 7, 2021

Early life and education

Zegler was born on May 3, 2001,[4] in Hackensack, New Jersey, at the Hackensack University Medical Center. Her mother is Gina Zegler, and she has an older sister, Jacqueline.[5] Her mother is of Colombian descent,[6] and her father is of Polish descent.[7][8][9]

Zegler was raised in Clifton, New Jersey, where she attended St. Philip the Apostle Preparatory School. She then attended the Catholic all-girls college-preparatory Immaculate Conception High School, where she starred in the school's musicals all four years: as Belle in Beauty and the Beast (2016), Ariel in The Little Mermaid (2017),[10] Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street (2018), and Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical (2019).[11][12] For all four performances, she received Metro Award nominations in the Actress in a Leading Role category.[11] Her other roles have included Serena in Legally Blonde, Cosette in Les Miserables, Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Mimi in Rent.[13] She graduated from high school on June 2, 2019.

Career

In January 2018, director Steven Spielberg posted an open casting call via Twitter for the film remake of West Side Story.[15] Zegler, then 16 years old, responded to the casting call tweets with videos of herself singing "Tonight" and "I Feel Pretty". She was selected from over 30,000 applicants for the role of Maria.[16] Zegler had performed the role at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in 2017.[17][18]

Zegler's YouTube channel has been active since July 2015[19] and has received attention.[20][21] As of 2020, Zegler's video of herself singing "Shallow", from A Star is Born, has garnered over 11 million views on Twitter.[22][23] In January 2020, she signed with ICM Partners.[24]

Zegler has joined the cast of the 2023 film Shazam! Fury of the Gods[25] and is also set to play Snow White in a live-action adaptation of the Disney animated film alongside Gal Gadot, who will play the Evil Queen.[26][27]

On September 27, 2021, Zegler was listed at number 34 on The Ringer's The Big Picture podcast's list of the top 35 actors under 35.[28] She made Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2022 list.[29]