1. Rachel Anne Zegler was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on May 3,2001, to Gina and Craig Zegler.
23 Facts About Rachel Zegler
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Rachel Zegler was named after the fictional character Rachel Green from the TV series Friends.
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Rachel Zegler's mother is of Colombian descent; her maternal grandmother immigrated from Barranquilla to the United States in the 1960s.
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Rachel Zegler's first acting role came when she was 12, when she played Shprintze in a play of Fiddler on the Roof.
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Rachel Zegler attended Immaculate Conception High School, where she began her career starring in several musicals, playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street, and Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical.
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Rachel Zegler was selected from more than 30,000 applicants for the role of Maria, marking her film debut.
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Ehrlich noted the nuances of her performance, adding "Rachel Zegler knows how to play nuance big enough for the back of the room to read it all over her face".
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In October 2023, Rachel Zegler announced her exit from Paddington in Peru, attributing her departure to the SAG strike.
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Rachel Zegler 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.
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Rachel 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.
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Rachel Zegler voiced the lead character in the animated musical film Spellbound, directed by Vicky Jenson, which premiered on Netflix.
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Rachel Zegler then played the titular character in Snow White, a live-action adaptation of the 1937 animated Disney film.
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Rachel Zegler next was scheduled to make her West End debut playing Eva Peron in a revival of Evita during summer 2025 at the London Palladium.
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In 2021, Rachel Zegler was listed at number 34 on The Ringers The Big Picture podcast's list of the top 35 actors under 35.
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Rachel Zegler is included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2022 list.
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Rachel Zegler 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.
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In January 2022, Rachel 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.
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Rachel Zegler 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.
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Rachel Zegler considers Barbra Streisand to be one of her primary influences.
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Rachel Zegler has spoken out against colorism regarding the Latino community.
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In October 2023, Rachel Zegler joined Artists4Ceasefire and signed a letter urging Joe Biden to facilitate a ceasefire to end Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
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In November 2024, Rachel 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.
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Rachel Zegler later apologized for contribut[ing] to the negative discourse.