ZEGLER A GODDESS WITH DC
Makes her superhero film debut in ‘Shazam!’
It didn’t take long for Rachel Zegler to feel the power of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.”
The superhero sequel is the New Jersey native’s second-ever movie and included moments on set that felt just as fantastical as the ancient magic and computer-animated dragon that appear in the final cut.
Zegler stars as Anthea, a 6,000-yearold goddess whose tyrannical older sisters, played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, are hellbent on retrieving their stolen powers.
“There was a day where we got to sit in our thrones. We had a throne fitting,” Zegler told the Daily News. “Helen had obviously done it before because she has literally played the Queen of England, but Lucy and I had never done it. We were getting throne lessons from Helen Mirren, which is pretty cool.”
Surreal experiences are nothing new for the 21-year-old Zegler. She made her film debut as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 adaptation of “West Side Story” and won honors from the Golden Globes and National Board of Review. She’s since wrapped production on Disney’s live-action “Snow White,” in which she plays the title princess, and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel film starring her and Tom Blyth.
Zegler’s addition to the DC Extended Universe for “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” now playing in theaters, was an unexpected one. She loved 2019 s original “Shazam!” — starring Zachary Levi as the hero version of a super-powered foster teen — but, with an extensive musical theater background, hadn’t envisioned herself in the genre.