Check out our Fresh News for January 14, 2019!

Image courtesy of: Variety 

Steven Spielberg has cast 17-year-old high schooler Rachel Zegler as Maria in his remake of “West Side Story.”

Image courtesy of: Variety 

Steven Spielberg has cast 17-year-old high schooler Rachel Zegler as Maria in his remake of “West Side Story.”

She will make her film debut opposite Ansel Elgort as Tony. Broadway veteran Ariana DeBose has been cast as Anita and David Alvarez as Bernardo. Theater performer Josh Andrés Rivera has been cast as Chino.

The casting team for the remake put out a call online for Latin actors that received over 30,000 submissions. Zegler saw the notice on Twitter and submitted a video of herself singing “Tonight” and “Me Siento Hermosa” (“I Feel Pretty”).

“I am so thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Maria alongside this amazing cast,” said Zegler. “‘West Side Story’ was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character. As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.”

Spielberg, Kevin McCollum, and Kristie Macosko Krieger will produce the remake, which will be released by Fox. Filming for “West Side Story” is set to begin in the summer of 2019. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.

Read the full article at: www.variety.com