Bergen's Rachel Zegler To Appear At Oscars, Grammys

HACKENSACK, NJ — She's going from North Jersey to the major award shows. Singer and actress Rachel Zegler, who has ties to Bergen and Passaic counties, will present at the Academy Awards and perform at the Grammys.

Born in Hackensack, Zegler grew up in Clifton, where she attended St. Philip the Apostle Preparatory School. She then went to Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi, graduating in 2019.

Zegler, 20, became active on YouTube in 2015 and starred in several musicals while attending Immaculate Conception, including playing Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" (2016) and Princess Fiona in "Shrek the Musical" (2019).

In January 2018, director Steven Spielberg posted an open casting call on Twitter for the new film adaptation of "West Side Story." Zegler responded with videos of herself singing "Tonight" and "I Feel Pretty." She had performed the role at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in 2017.

Filmmakers selected Zegler from a pool of more than 30,000 applicants to play the starring role of María, marking her film debut. She won the Golden Globe for "Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy." Zegler became the first actress of Colombian descent to win in that category, along with the category's youngest winner.

“I got cast as María in 'West Side Story' on 1/9/19," she said. "And I just won a Golden Globe for that same performance, on 1/9/22. Life is very strange.”

At first, it appeared Zegler wouldn't attend the Oscars, which will take place Sunday. When a fan on her Instagram said they couldn't wait to see her outfit at the award show, Zegler replied Sunday that she didn't get an invite.

"I have tried it all but it doesn't seem to be happening," Zegler wrote. "I will root for West Side Story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago. I hope some last minute miracle occurs."

Some on Twitter pointed out an irony: the Academy claims to embrace diversity, but didn't invite Zegler, the star of a story with Latin American experience at its heart, to the Oscars.

The film is nominated for Best Picture and six other awards.

Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff in the 1961 film adaption, was among those criticizing the Academy.

"as a voting member and the original Riff, let me say: it’s your duty to find Rachel a seat at the Oscars," he wrote in a Tweet directed at the Academy. "she STARS in #Westsidestory which is nominated across the board. When they say representation matters, this is what that means. Please do right by her."

Then a last-minute "miracle" came her way. The Academy shared its list of Oscar presenters Wednesday, which included Zegler.

"Well folks, i can't believe i’m saying this but... see you on sunday!" Zegler tweeted. "The absolutely incredible team at @Disney and our snow white producers worked some real-life magic, and i am thrilled to be able to celebrate my @westsidemovie fam at the oscars."

Then on Thursday, the Recording Academy announced Zegler would perform April 3 at the Grammys.

Zegler will star in the upcoming superhero flick "Shazam! Fury of the Gods!" She will also play the namesake character in "Snow White" alongside Gal Gadot, who stars as the Evil Queen.