Meet 'West Side Story' remake's new Maria: 17-year-old Colombian-American singer Rachel Zegler wowed Spielberg
High school student, singer and actress Rachel Zegler has been cast in the lead role of Steven Spielberg's planned "West Side Story."
The remake of the 1961 film about rival gangs in New York City and a forbidden love affair has already cast A-listers such as Ansel Elgort and Rita Moreno, and now a 17-year-old star on the rise has joined the team.
Zegler, a Colombian-American singer and actress, has about 50,000 social media followers -- and that number is about to skyrocket after the huge news.
But she was a sensation before Spielberg took note of her talent, going viral for signing cover songs from the likes of Lady Gaga.
Check out this video with a whopping 352,000 likes!
After news of the casting hit, stars like Sterling K. Brown and Zach Braff took to Twitter to congratulate her.
Rita Moreno, who starred in the original film, is executive producing this remake. She, along with Spielberg, has been praised for casting Latinx actors in key roles, unlike the original film.
In fact, Zegler went to an open casting call for Latinx actresses with 30,000 other young ladies to win the part.
Ariana DeBose, whose father is Puerto Rican and mother is white, has also been cast in the film, along with David Alvarez.
Talk about a true "A Star Is Born" moment! Take a bow, young lady.
