Rachel Zegler: What You Need to Know About Disney's Live-Action Snow White

Rachel Zegler has been chosen to play Disney's latest live-action princess, Snow White.

It's a meteoric rise for the young actress, who still hasn't made her television or movie debut but has three big projects in the bag.

The multi-talented youngster is an actress, singer and YouTuber with an avid strong social media following, so we're going to see a lot more of her on the big screen very soon.

Who is Rachel Zegler?

Zegler is a 20-year-old performer born in Hackensack, New Jersey on May 3, 2001. She was raised in Clifton and performed in a number of her high school productions, including as Belle in Beauty and the Beast and as Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

She is of Colombian descent. Zegler can also play musical instruments and can often be seen singing while playing guitar or ukulele on her YouTube channel.

She got her big break in 2018 when she applied to an open casting call for Latin actors to appear in West Side Story. There were 30,000 applicants and Zegler submitted herself for a role by singing "Tonight" and "Me Siento Hermosa" ("I Feel Pretty") on Twitter.

Cast in Spielberg's West Side Story

Her application was successful and, at the age of 17, she was cast as Maria in Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story. She'll star opposite Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver), who will play Tony.

Upon finding Latin actors to fill the roles, Spielberg told Variety: "I am in awe of the sheer force of the talent of these young performers, and I believe they'll bring a new and electrifying energy to a magnificent musical that's more relevant than ever."

Zegler has finished shooting the movie and recently filmed herself reacting to the first trailer on her YouTube channel. Spielberg's remake of the musical classic is due out in theaters on December 10.

Rachel Zegler on social media

Zegler has been active on YouTube since July 2015 and currently has 203,000 subscribers. She often posts videos of herself singing covers and original songs, getting thousands of views with each post.

She's also got a strong presence on other social media channels with 131,000 followers on Twitter and 220,000 on Instagram.

Zegler went viral online in December 2018 when she posted a video of herself singing "Shallow" from A Star is Born. Her short rendition of the song got over 11 million views on Twitter.

Starring in Snow White and Shazam!

Zegler has been vocal on social media since being cast as Snow White in Disney's upcoming live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

She shared images of herself as Ariel in her high school production of The Little Mermaid, laughing about how she wanted to be a real Disney princess. Zegler also shared a short video of herself meeting someone dressed as Snow White in real life.

Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) is directing the movie and in a statement, said he was thrilled with the casting of Zegler. He said: "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 fairy tale.

After being cast in West Side Story Zegler also landed an untitled role in the upcoming superhero sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods. She's currently in Atlanta filming the project and tweeted on June 17, "filming shazam is actually the greatest joy in the world."

She's also been sharing images from the set including one of the heroes in their new costumes.

Currently Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is slated for a 2022 release while Shazam! Fury of the Gods is due out in 2023.