{"id":2137,"date":"2019-01-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.smooth.com.au\/uncategorised\/steven-spielberg-has-cast-leading-lady-his-remake-west-side-story\/"},"modified":"2019-01-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:00:00","slug":"steven-spielberg-has-cast-leading-lady-his-remake-west-side-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.smooth.com.au\/lifestyle\/steven-spielberg-has-cast-leading-lady-his-remake-west-side-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Spielberg has cast the leading lady in his remake of West Side Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Steven Spielberg\u2019s reboot of West Side Story has found its Maria, and can we just say\u2026 a star is born?<\/p>\n<p>In a scenario right out of your teenage dreams, 17-year-old Rachel Zegler, a Colombian-American student from new Jersey, has been ~Plucked From Obscurity!~ to star in the remake, opposite Ansel Elgort as Tony.<\/p>\n<p>Zegler\u2019s only previous brush with fame is a Twitter clip that went a bit viral in December, and you can see why<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">someone: you use autotune<br>me: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9sPBkDj2kf\">pic.twitter.com\/9sPBkDj2kf<\/a><\/p>&mdash; rachel zegler (@rachelzegler) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rachelzegler\/status\/1073664369681141760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote>&#13;\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<p>Her voice is INSANE. It\u2019s actual perfection. It\u2019s the stuff of angels and Disney princesses and just WOW.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>How can you not fall in love with the pure joy on her face as she effortlessly destroys the most iconic 30 seconds of \u2018Shallow\u2019 in an empty auditorium, and then chucks in a cheeky \u201cEverybody!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not only are her lungs perfect for the role, but her cultural background.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Spielberg had made a point ofcasting actual Latinx actors as the Sharks and their friends in the remake.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Natalie Wood (the original Maria) was charming and all (oh so charming) but she was born in California to Russian parents \u2013 so it\u2019s great to see a young Latina woman playing one of the most iconic Latina characters in film history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWest Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character,\u201d Zegler said in a statement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAs a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Images: West Side Story \/ The Mirisch Company.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><style type=\"text\/css\">p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}\nspan.s1 {font-kerning: none}\n\t<\/style>\n<p>\tAnd her voice is INSANE<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[209,201,419],"tags":[],"geo_market":[],"class_list":["post-2137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-lifestyle","category-whats-on"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - 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