Youtube singer lands star role in Spielberg’s West Side Story film
WHEN Steven Spielberg put out a casting call for the role of Maria in West Side Story, it stipulated: “Must be able to sing.” The girl he has chosen certainly fits the bill.
Rachel Zegler, aged 17, has no professional acting experience but her vocal talents are in no doubt after a video of her singing to an empty school hall went viral on social media.
Ms Zegler, a student at a high school in New Jersey, and a part-time wedding singer, beat 30,000 other hopefuls to the coveted role.
Two years ago she set up her own Youtube channel featuring homemade videos, some recorded in the bathroom, performing cover versions of pop songs and show tunes. On the site she describes herself as “infatuated with theatre, musicals and the people who help them to happen”.
In December, she posted the Twitter video of her performing Shallow from A Star Is Born. In the space of a few weeks it has been viewed more than seven million times.
Ms Zegler has already performed in local theatre productions including West Side Story. After seeing the casting call for Spielberg’s film she sent in videos of herself singing Tonight and I Feel Pretty, and was invited to meet the director.
“When I played Maria on stage a few summers ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the role again,” she said. “As a Colombian-american woman growing up in this day and age, strong roles like Maria are so important. To be able to bring that role to life – a role that means so much to the Hispanic community – is so humbling.”
Spielberg had specified that he wanted the roles of Maria, Anita and Bernardo to go to actors of Latin-american backgrounds – a marked departure from the 1961 film in which Natalie Wood wore brown make-up to play the Puerto Rican Maria.
Rita Moreno, a native Puerto Rican, has complained that even she was made to look darker for the role of Anita. “We all had the same colour makeup. It was a very different time. I said to the make-up man one day, ‘My God! Why do we all have to be the same colour?’” she said in a recent interview.
Broadway veterans Ariana Debose and David Alvarez have been cast as Anita and Bernardo, and Ansel Elgort will play Tony in the story of doomed love and gang warfare.
Spielberg said: “I’m so glad that we’ve assembled a cast that reflects the astonishing depth of talent in America’s multifaceted Hispanic community.
“I am in awe of the sheer force of the talent of these young performers, and I believe they’ll bring a new and electrifying energy to a magnificent musical that’s more relevant than ever.”
The Oscar-winning director and his team have held meetings with Hispanic groups and students at the University of Puerto Rico to ensure that the film is culturally sensitive.
The film will be adapted from the 1957 Broadway musical, using the original songs by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.