Rachel Zegler has had a meteoric rise after launching her acting career in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (not the worst director to start with) and moving on to star in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Now the actress is up for two People’s Choice Awards and her fans are thrilled.
Zegler has very quickly made a name for herself, starring in DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods (admittedly a flop) at the beginning of 2023, though it’s her role in the Hunger Games prequel that has really catapulted her to stardom. In the prequel, she plays Lucy Gray Baird the District 12 female tribute for the early iteration of The Hunger Games, a role similar to the one that made Jennifer Lawrence a household name almost a full decade ago.
Thanks to that performance, Zegler has earned not one but two People’s Choice Award nominations, one for Female Movie Star of 2023 and the other for Action Movie Star of the Year. Fans of the Columbian-American actress are thrilled to see this, calling her the people’s princess—fitting, given that she is playing an actual princess in two of her upcoming films: Princess Ellian in Spellbound and the titular character in Disney’s live-action adaption of Snow White.
The latter has seen a lot of controversy attached as, much like what Halle Bailey had to endure when cast in The Little Mermaid, Zegler has also been on the receiving end of racist rants for being a Latina woman cast as Snow White. Some people really can’t seem to get their heads around the fact that these live adaptions are not going to look exactly like Disney cartoons, especially when the animated Snow White came out almost a full century ago!
Zegler was trending on Twitter/X after the nominations were announced because, despite the hate, she has plenty of people in her corner. Fans offered words of encouragement and support for the actress.
Some shared videos showed some of the hate the actress has received, and how despite all that, she is thriving anyway.
Zegler’s time to shine is upon us.
Many fans are urging people to get out and vote!
Others shared that they have already voted.
Having starred in The Hunger Games prequel and moving forward starring as the original iconic Disney princess, it doesn’t look like Zegler will be slowing down anytime soon.
(featured image: Lionsgate)
