Why Rachel Zegler Hasn't Been Cast In A Movie Since Snow White

So about a year ago, something very interesting happened with Rachel Zegler. As the backlash continued to pour on for months on end following the trending interview she did at D23, it was announced that Rachel Zegler would be leaving her next upcoming film, Paddington 3. Now it was reported that she left the movie due to the SAG strike, in which Paddington was still allowed to continue filming due to it being a British production, but because Rachel Zegler was one of the few SAG actors in the movie, she couldn't continue herself. However, people didn't quite believe that story, and pointed out the suspicious timing of the departure, as it was very much in the middle of her controversy. Then to make it seem even more suspicious, Antonio Banderas is also a SAG member, yet was able to continue playing his role in the film. And so this led to people saying this was just a nice and polite way of them firing Rachel Zegler from the movie, and it wasn't her leaving on her own accord. And despite the SAG strike being well and truly over now, since the Snow White backlash happened, and since she quote-unquote departed from Paddington, she has not been cast in a single upcoming movie. All her projects that she does have coming out soon, were all cast well before the backlash ever started on Snow White. Which is what makes things appear worse for her, because following her debut in West Side Story, she was touted as the next big thing in Hollywood. And within a year of that movie's release, she was cast in six major productions, being Shazam 2, Netflix's Spellbound, A24's Y2K, Hunger Games, Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, and of course Snow White. So for her to be literally given six lead roles in enormous productions, and then have nothing given to her in the last 18 months, does look kind of strange. Because all the other major young stars in Hollywood are continuously announcing new major projects, including Halle Bailey, who was also the lead in a controversial Disney live-action remake. And so I figured it would be a fun idea in this video to look at the four possible reasons for why she may have potentially been fired from Paddington 3, and why she is yet to be cast in anything new. With the first reason being social change. And what I mean by this, is that society's cultural opinions and norms are constantly changing from year to year. And because Hollywood's movies can only be successful by appealing to people, they end up, for better or for worse, shifting along with society. And that's why some of the biggest Hollywood stars that have been around for decades, are often people who don't strongly tie themselves publicly to any specific political opinion. Of course they will openly talk about things that only wackos wouldn't agree with, like treating everyone fairly and equally, regardless of their colour, gender or background. But they don't necessarily choose clear sides and polarising political areas. I think Denzel Washington showed this best in this interview clip. And so with that said, I think movie studios may possibly be apprehensive to hire such a new, young and mostly unproven actress, given how strongly she has voiced her opinions. Now I'm not saying that she isn't allowed to voice her opinions, as we are all allowed to say whatever we want, however it would be naive to think that there may never be consequences or alternate reactions to us using our freedom of speech. Because I personally don't think studios dislike Rachel Zegler on a personal level, or even disagree or agree with the things she said. I don't think studios really think much about the actors on a personal level, I just think studios look at whether or not an actor is marketable in deciding if they cast a specific actor. I mean, Addison Rae got cast in a movie with no acting experience, so clearly marketability is at the forefront of the studio's minds. And so potentially these studios have just seen the backlash to Rachel Zegler, and have seen how openly she is politically, and are just apprehensive at the moment to hiring her. And that leads us on to the second potential reason, which could be her very rocky start to her career. Because what's interesting about Rachel Zegler, is the Snow White controversy wasn't her first time experiencing anything like this. She actually had some controversy in both her lead debut film West Side Story, and with her second film Shazam 2. Because many fans of the Shazam movie were angered by her comments on the red carpet, where she said this about the movie. And fans said they didn't like her response because it showed a lack of care for the hero, the story, and the franchise. And that when dealing with a superhero franchise, it's important to be a fan yourself in order to do justice to both the story and its audience. And then on top of the Shazam controversy, she did also have controversy with her first movie West Side Story, where she was upset with the Oscars for not inviting her to the awards ceremony, despite the movie being nominated. Now it's important to remember that she wasn't nominated, just the movie was. And so this also divided people on the internet as to whether or not she did deserve to attend the Oscars. However, I would say that most people at this time were in support of Rachel Zegler, as they said, hey, it was her first feature film and it did get nominated for an Academy Award. So it potentially would have been nice for them to invite her. In which the Oscars eventually did extend an olive branch and did invite her to the ceremony in the end. And so while that's not the worst kind of controversy, perhaps studios have seen that with each of the first three movies, there has been some sort of audience division and perhaps coming off the back of the snow white backlash, which may potentially lead to Disney's biggest box office flop yet. They're just not seeing her at the moment as a very marketable prospect to lead their films, which then takes us to the third potential reason, which is where does she fit? Because she has started off her career as a leading lady as all of her projects so far, she has been a relative lead. And so maybe she is being offered movies at the moment, but perhaps they're all for smaller roles due to the negative publicity and studios being worried about her having to market the film. But I'm sure if I was in her position, I would also like to continue to play more leading roles instead of smaller parts in order to not take a backward step in my career. Seeing as she's yet to be proven in Hollywood as of yet, and is so early on to her career, I'm sure she doesn't really want to take a backward step as it may hinder any potential of getting more leading roles in the future, which of course one means less money, but more importantly, it means less control over the projects you make and the stories you want to tell as it's fine to play a bit part once you're an established marketable star. But if you do it too early in your career, you may just get stuck at that position. Whereas I'm sure she's looking at other young stars in Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Louis Partridge and Jenna Ortega, and seeing that as the career she'd like to have, so potentially she is willing to wait out the backlash and potentially get back to leading roles in 2026. Which then takes us to the fourth reason, which is Snow White's delay. Perhaps studios want to because Snow White isn't due to release until March 2025, meaning that the backlash will well and truly start up again following its release and so she won't really be marketable at all until the end of that year at the earliest. And so maybe studios are also playing the waiting game and aren't going to offer her anything until that point, at which they can then work together to turn the tide on the narrative surrounding her career. But what are your thoughts on the current situation with Rachel Zegler and why do you think she is yet to be cast in anything? Let me know down below in the comments and if you like the video please hit the like button, hit the subscribe button and as always good afternoon good evening and good night