Rachel Zegler should be celebrating a fantastic year, with the release of West Side Story and having landed significant upcoming roles in Shazam! Fury of The Gods and the live-action Disney remake of Snow White. Instead, the young actress has been taking blows on social media, with many questioning her casting in both of her upcoming roles, leaving the star feeling that she maybe isn’t worthy of the roles she has received. Part of the issue seems to have stemmed from West Side Story being delayed since 2020 and no one having the chance to see her stunning performance in that movie before she was cast in other prominent roles.

As far as big-screen breakthroughs go, Zegler has had a pretty impressive run, following up her star turn as Maria, a role she was handed by Steven Spielberg after she sent in an audition video of herself singing, by being cast as a mystery character in the sequel to Shazam! in early 2021. Her role in the movie was later accidentally confirmed as one of the three godly villains of the film, the other two being Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. To cap off the year, Zegler was then cast in the much-coveted role of Snow White in the Disney remake of their classic 1937 movie. As Zegler explained, though, the roles came with a lot of backlash that had her questioning her own abilities to take on these roles. She told The Hollywood Reporter:

“There was a huge imposter syndrome shadow that loomed over me. I was reading these horrible things people were saying, like, ‘What kind of dirt does she have on whoever holds the puppet strings in Hollywood? Because that has to be the only reason she’s booked gigs while waiting for this movie to come out.’ As much as it’s bullshit to read, it takes a toll.”

West Side Story’s Release Has Silenced Rachel Zegler’s Doubters

After being delayed a year, West Side Story was finally released in December 2021 to rave reviews, many of which were for Zegler and her performance. As well as the amazing audience and critic reactions, the actress has also found herself on the receiving end of several awards, including a Golden Globe, which saw her beat off competition from the likes of Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence and Marion Cotillard, and now all expectation is that an Oscar nomination is very close.

Even though Zegler’s acting ability has won out against those quick to drag her down, it doesn’t take away the fact that the shine has been initially taken off her success by the months of social media comments, speculation about exactly how he was given the roles and other pieces of trolling that it turns out was far from justified. All in all, it has only proven that now and again, there are people in Hollywood who manage to make it based on their talent alone. At least now, Zegler can enjoy the accolades coming her way in the future knowing that she is not the imposter she feared.