After making her big breakthrough with West Side Story, Rachel Zegler will star as Snow White in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake.
Marc Webb, director of The Amazing Spider-Man, will direct the remake alongside Marc Platt producing. The production is expected to begin in 2022.
“Rachel’s extraordinary vocal abilities are just the beginning of her gifts. Her strength, intelligence, and optimism will become an integral part of rediscovering the joy in this classic Disney fairytale,” Webb said in a statement.
At 17-years-old, Zegler was an unknown high schooler who beat out more than 30,000 actresses for Maria, the lead role in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. The new adaptation of the musical will be released on Dec. 10, starring Ansel Elgort and Rita Moreno.
In April, Zegler made a vlog reacting to the first West Side Story trailer where she gets emotional as the clip rolled and she saw herself on-screen for the first time.
Zegler said in the video, “I just don’t know what to say. I FaceTimed Steven [Spielberg] right after [watching the trailer] and I was just like, ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for changing my life.’”
“It just feels real now that I made something and people are going to see it. And it’s something that I’m really, really proud of. I had such a beautiful time making it,” she concluded.
On the other hand, for several months, Webb and studio execs met searching for talent to cast the role of Snow White. Insiders say Zegler, 20, audition impressed everyone. However, footage from West Side Story blew the Disney studio away and helped finalize the decision.
In addition to Disney live-action remakes, Snow White is the latest version. Previously, the studio has live remade Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Aladdin, Dumbo, and currently The Little Mermaid with Halle Bailey as Ariel. Alongside villain origin stories such as Maleficent and this year’s Cruella.
Insiders say the live-action film will expand upon the story and music from the original. The Oscar and Tony-winning duo, Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, behind La La Land, The Greatest Showman, and Dear Evan Hansen, will write the new songs for the musical.
According to Deadline, “A big reason the studio has taken its time one this adaptation is making sure it gets the music right, and insiders add that higher-ups are excited with what Pasek and Paul have come up with following early returns.”
