Rachel Zegler bags coveted new role away from big screen despite Snow White ‘woke’ controversy
Rachel Zegler is set to make her West End debut in a revival of Evita at the London Palladium this summer.
The 23-year-old actress will take on the role of Argentina’s First Lady Eva Perón in the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
The production, directed by Jamie Lloyd, will run from 14 June to 6 September 2025.
Zegler follows in the footsteps of theatre legends who have previously portrayed the iconic character.
Evita chronicles the life and times of Eva Perón, including her origins, rise to fame, political career and untimely death.
The musical features the famous song Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina and originally debuted in London’s West End in 1978.
It began as a rock opera concept album before transferring to Broadway in 1979.
The role of Eva Perón has been portrayed by theatre legends Elaine Paige, who originated the role on the West End, and Patti LuPone on Broadway.
Madonna starred in the 1996 film adaptation.
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Zegler expressed her excitement in a statement, saying: “Evita has been such an important musical to me since I was a little girl, when my dad and I would sing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina together on my back patio.”
“The opportunity to bring Jamie Lloyd’s singular, visionary ideas to life onstage is an honour unlike any other,” she added.
Director Jamie Lloyd praised Zegler as a “phenomenal talent” who will “blow the roof off the London Palladium” when their reimagined musical opens.
Lloyd was impressed by her “incredible passion” and “insight and ideas” about Perón.
It comes as the actress is currently in the spotlight ahead of her “Snow White” remake, which releases on 21 March.
The film has already faced huge hurdles and backlash, with the re-imagining of the 1937 classic having been blasted for its decision not to include “the seven dwarves” in its title.
It has also been met with a string of other complaints from both sides of the “woke” debate.
Zegler has previously been deemed “a waking PR disaster for Disney” following comments she has made about her role in the film.
During a 2022 interview, the actress labelled the film as “dated,” describing Prince Charming as “a guy who literally stalks [Snow White]”, going on to deem the story “weird”.
The film is set to hit the big screens later this month, with the trailer having been released at the end of 2024.
In response to the first-look, the use of CGI displayed in the advert also led to complaints, with some commenting it seemed overdone.
Zegler first gained recognition when she was cast in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story adaptation, beating out tens of thousands of other actresses for the role.
This served as her feature film debut and launched her career in Hollywood.
She has since starred in The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as Lucy Gray Baird.