Rachel Zegler who plays Maria in Steven Spielberg’s musical ‘West-Side Story’ has revealed on her social media that she has not been invited to the Oscar’s live event happening on March 27, 2022 at the Dolby Theater.
Although Rachel has not been nominated, the movie she stars in ‘West Side Story’ has been nominated for Awards in seven categories – Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Costume Design as well as the biggest award of the night – The Best Picture.
The news about Rachel not being invited to the Oscars came to light on Sunday, March 20 when the young actress posted a bunch of pictures on her Instagram handle with the caption, “a quarter of the year well spent.”
Among the many comments from Instagram users, one said, “Can’t wait to see what you’ll be wearing on Oscar night,” to this Zegler replied saying: “I’m not invited so sweatpants and my boyfriend’s flannel.”
When other users also commented on this Rachel further replied saying, “Idk y’all, I have tried it all, but it doesn’t seem to be happening.” She also added that with the Oscars a week away she could only hope for last minute miracles. She said, “I will root for ‘West Side Story’ from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did three years ago. I hope some last-minute miracle occurs and I can celebrate our film in person, but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess.”
She perhaps didn’t expect so much surprise and outrage from her followers on Instagram because after numerous users posted their shock at her not being invited, she added another response in her comments section, saying, “Thanks for all the shock and outrage – I’m disappointed too. But that’s okay. So proud of our movie.”
‘The Hollywood Reporter’ stated that each nominee and presenter is offered one pair of tickets. The rest of the tickets are allotments gives to each studio, which means who is invited and who isn’t is up to the production company of the nominated film, which in this case is Disney’s 20th Century Studios. So, if Rachel has not received an invitation it is because 20th Century did not send her an invite for the Awards.
After the uproar, on Sunday afternoon, Rachel took to her Twitter handle to thank her fans and followers for their support and issued a clarification on the matter. She wrote, that “a lot of work” went to the production of film as well as award shows. She also wrote, “my goodness, folks!! appreciate all the support, I really really do. we live in such unprecedented times, and a lot of work behind the scenes goes into making movie magic happen. that goes for film productions (like the one I am so lucky to be currently shooting in London) …”
She also added a follow up tweet that said, “…and awards shows alike. let’s all just respect the process and I’ll get off my phone x R,”
Here is the tweet:
Rachel Zegler is in London currently to shoot for Mark Webb’s ‘Snow White’, which will be Disney’s live-action adaptation of the fairy tale. Earlier this year, Zegler took home the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for ‘West Side Story’. This was the first time an actress of Columbian descent has won the award. She also had the honour of being the youngest recipient of this award.
Meanwhile the Oscars will go live from Dolby Theater on March 27, 2022.
