Product Code Database
Rachel Anne Zegler ( ; born May 3, 2001) is an American actress and singer. She gained wide recognition for her performance as María in Steven Spielberg's film adaptation West Side Story (2021), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
She has since portrayed Anthea in the superhero film action film Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), Lucy Gray Baird in the teen drama dystopian film (2023), and the titular character in the musical film fantasy film Snow White (2025). On stage, she made her Broadway theatre debut playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (2024), and her West End debut as the titular character in the musical Evita (2025).
Zegler grew up in Clifton, New Jersey. She says she faced racial discrimination on social media during her childhood due to her mixed ethnicity. Zegler became a fan of the theater after seeing her first Broadway show, Beauty and the Beast, at age four. Her first acting role came when she was 12, when she played Shprintze in a play of Fiddler on the Roof. She then decided she wanted to be an actress, and began taking voice and acting lessons.
Zegler attended Immaculate Conception High School,Morel, Kyle. "NJ's Rachel Zegler on bringing Snow White to theaters: 'It's a huge chunk of my heart'", The Record, March 21, 2025. Accessed March 21, 2025. "Zegler's performance fulfills a longtime goal for the 23-year-old, who was born in Hackensack and attended the now-closed Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi." where she starred in several musicals, 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 Metropolitan High School Theater Award nominations for 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. She graduated on June 2, 2019, as salutatorian. Her YouTube channel was active from July 2015 to August 2023 and also garnered media coverage.
For her performance, Zegler 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, She was the first actress of Colombian descent to win in that category and, at age 20, the youngest.
In 2023, Zegler announced her exit from Paddington in Peru, attributing her departure to the SAG strike. She played Laura in the film Y2K, which debuted at the South by Southwest Festival in 2024 and was released on December 6 that year to a mixed reception.
Zegler made her Broadway debut playing Juliet in a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, directed by Sam Gold with music by Jack Antonoff, from September 26, 2024, to February 16, 2025. She voiced the lead character in the animated musical film Spellbound, which premiered on Netflix. She then played the titular character in Snow White (2025), a live-action adaptation of the 1937 animated Disney film. Zegler next made her West End debut playing Eva Perón in a revival of Evita, directed by Jamie Lloyd, in the summer of 2025 at the London Palladium, where she received positive reviews for her performance. She performed two solo concerts at the London Palladium in October 2025, alongside special guests Ramin Karimloo and Andrew Lloyd Webber with the latter only performing at the evening performance.
Zegler is set to star alongside Marisa Tomei in the comedy drama film She Gets It from Me.
In January 2022, Zegler garnered online backlash for a since-deleted video in which she gave a dramatic reading of Britney Spears's Twitter messages online to her sister, Jamie Lynn Spears. She later issued an apology on the platform, explaining: "While I meant no disrespect whatsoever, I should have thought about how this could be perceived, and I'm so sorry for upsetting or disappointing anyone. This is not a situation to be taken lightly, and we should all be lifting Britney up in this pivotal time."
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.
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."
Zegler is open about her struggles with anxiety and attends psychiatric sessions.
She has publicly supported Gaza Strip in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict since 2021. In October 2023, Zegler joined Artists4Ceasefire and signed a letter urging Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire during the war in Gaza. In January 2024, she encouraged her followers on Instagram to pressure government leaders for a ceasefire. In August 2024, she tweeted, "and always remember, Free Palestine". Snow White producer Marc Platt voiced concerns about Zegler's Israeli co-star Gal Gadot receiving death threats, which they attributed to Zegler's post. This led Disney to provide additional security for Gadot. After the film's release, Platt's son Jonah partially blamed its box office underperformance on Zegler's public remarks, confirming that his father had flown to New York to reprimand Zegler for her remarks.
In November 2024, Zegler criticized Donald Trump and Trumpism, claiming there is a "deep, deep sickness" in the United States and accusing Trump of "[Democratic our democracy]]". She also wrote, "May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace." She later apologized for "contributing to the negative discourse".
| Lucy Gray Baird | ||
| Spellbound | Princess Ellian | Voice role |
| Evita | Eva Perón | London Palladium, West End | |
| Rachel Zegler: Live at the London Palladium | Herself |
| + List of singles, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Album |
| + List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |
| + List of other appearances | |||
| "Days from Long Ago" | 2021 | Alejandro Rodriguez, Anna Ebbeson, Shakina Nayfack, Solea Pfeiffer | #IWriteMusicals: Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge (the 2020 edition) |
| "Your World / Safe" | Alexia Sielo, Anna Ebbeson, Anna Jacobs, Henry Crater, Jared Goldsmith, Jason Gotay, Nick Cartell | ||
| "Rey's Theme" | The George Lucas Talk Show Original Livestream Series Soundtrack | ||
| "Mile Away" | 2023 | George Watsky | Intention |
| + List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Zegler | |||||
| Chicago Film Critics Association | Most Promising Performer | West Side Story | |||
| Florida Film Critics Circle | Pauline Kael Breakout Award | ||||
| Indiana Film Journalists Association | Breakout of the Year | ||||
| National Board of Review | Best Actress | ||||
| North Texas Film Critics Association | Best Actress | ||||
| Best Newcomer | |||||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Youth Performance | ||||
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Breakthrough Performance | ||||
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Young Actor/Actress | ||||
| DiscussingFilm Critics Awards | Best Debut Performance | ||||
| Dorian Awards | Rising Star of the Year | ||||
| Imagen Awards | Best Actress | ||||
| Georgia Film Critics Association | |||||
| Breakthrough Award | |||||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | ||||
| Music City Film Critics Association | Best Young Actress | ||||
| North Carolina Film Critics Association | Best Breakthrough Performance | ||||
| Online Film and Television Association | Best Breakout Performance: Female | ||||
| 2024 | People's Choice Awards | Action Movie Star of the Year | |||
| Female Movie Star of the Year | |||||
| 2025 | Saturn Awards | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | |||
| iHeartRadio Music Awards | Favorite Broadway Debut | Romeo + Juliet | |||
| Broadway.com Audience Awards | Favorite Leading Actress in a Play | ||||
| Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Female) | |||||
| Favorite Onstage Pair | |||||
| The Stage Debut Awards | Best West End Debut Performance | Evita | align="center"
/ref> | ||
| 2026 | Stalls to Stage Awards | Screen Stars on Stage |
|
|
