Rachel Zegler has quickly become one of the biggest hot-button topics in all of Hollywood.
Rachel Zegler is an up-and-coming actress whose stardom has been on the rise in recent years. Her breakthrough came with her role as Maria Vasquez in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021), a film that garnered critical acclaim and showcased her exceptional talent. Zegler’s captivating performance in the classic musical demonstrated her remarkable vocal and acting abilities, establishing her as a rising star in the entertainment industry.
Since that film, Zegler has been on the rise with many other projects, including two highly anticipated films that are set to release in the coming months. The most prominent of these projects, of course, is Disney’s live-action Snow White film. Zegler will play the Disney princess, but that decision hasn’t come without a fair share of controversy.
Disney has changed several aspects of the classic 1937 animated film, including removing the seven dwarfs and instead replacing them with “magical creatures.” In addition, Zegler has become the target of many fans due to her comments in which she shared that “this would be no love story” and that the princess would not be saved by a prince. As a matter of fact, Disney won’t even include a prince in this telling of the story, as Andrew Burnap— the male lead in the movie– will play the newly-formed role of Jonathan in the movie.
She also shared that this was “not 1937 anymore” and that she found many aspects of the original rendition “strange.” Because of the controversy surrounding the movie, many fans have begged Disney to pull the project, but the company will not be going that route. Latest projections indicate that the live-action Snow White will need to bring in more than $340 million at the box office to break even, but this number could potentially rise as production and marketing continues.
While there’s plenty of controversy surrounding this Disney film– which is set to debut in the spring of 2024– it’s not the only project that Zegler is set to star in. She is set to play a pivotal role in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel, which has generated immense excitement among fans of Suzanne Collins’s dystopian book series.
This prequel, titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, explores the early life of the iconic character, Coriolanus Snow. Zegler will play the role of Lucy Gray Baird in the upcoming film, which is set to be released on November 17, 2023. If the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes come to an end before the release of the movie, the expectation is that Rachel Zegler will be on the promotional trail alongside fellow star Tom Blyth (President Snow).
Even as Zegler remains away from work due to the ongoing strikes, different aspects of her portrayal are being unveiled. Just recently, her rendition of “The Hanging Tree” was released on YouTube. The song is 2:24 long and has been described by both critics and fans as “haunting.”
You can check out the song here. The trailer is also shown below.
For those who don’t remember, “The Hanging Tree” was first unveiled in The Hunger Games films by Jennifer Lawrence. Playing the role of Katniss, Lawrence sang the song as a rallying call for the districts as they attempted to overthrow the capital, which is led by President Snow. The song actually jumped onto the Billboard Top100 at No. 12 when it was released in 2014. It’s unclear at this point if Zegler’s version will also become one of the most popular songs of the fall.
What do you think of this performance from Rachel Zegler, and what do you think this could mean for her portrayal of Snow White? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!