How Rachel Zegler Achieved a Net Worth of $3 Million
As one of Hollywood’s most promising young actresses, Rachel Zegler net worth has become a common topic of discussion. She recently took home the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, which has only served to increase the buzz surrounding her. It has not taken Zegler long to make a major impact, that is for sure.
Her star is only going to continue to rise, and it is safe to assume that her net worth will be propelled along with it. To learn more about Rachel Zegler and all of the opportunities that sure to come her way, please be sure to read on.
Early Life and Career
She was born on May 3, 2001, in Hackensack, New Jersey, before making the move to Clifton, New Jersey. Zegler resided with her parents, Craig and Gina (who is of Colombian descent). Rachel also has an older sister named Jacklyn. Her maternal grandmother hails from Barranquilla, Colombia, and immigrated to the US during the 1960s. Her father is of Polish lineage.
Rachel was destined for greatness from a very young age due to her uniquely chosen moniker. Her parents named her after Rachel Green, the iconic Friends character memorably portrayed by Jennifer Aniston. As a child, she attended St. Philip the Apostle Preparatory School. From there, she enrolled at Immaculate Conception High School.
After graduating, she began to build on the experience that she had already obtained. During her enrollment at Immaculate Conception, she participated in a number of school musicals. Rachel was bitten by the acting bug and decided to pursue this career more vigorously after completing her schooling.
The years that she spent taking on a series of prominent lead roles prepared her for what was to come. By the time she had completed high school, she had already played Belle in a production of Beauty and the Beast, as well as Ariel in a production of The Little Mermaid. She also took on roles as Dorothy in 42nd Street and Princess Fiona in a musical re-imagining of Shrek.
Rachel’s acting work had her receiving accolades from a very young age, as all four performances were given Metro Award nominations in the Actress in a Leading Role category. Ziegler also played Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cosette in Les Misérables, and Serena in Legally Blonde.
In addition to her early work, Zegler received attention for her YouTube channel, which was established in 2015. Publications such as Teen Vogue took notice and brought the channel to everyone’s attention once she began to receive major Hollywood roles. She posted a video of herself singing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, garnering over 12 million views in the process.
How Did Rachel Zegler Get Her Big Break?
Rachel Zegler net worth was not built from doing high school plays, of course. So how did this budding starlet get her true big break? It all started in early 2018. Legendary director Steven Spielberg was looking to create his own film adaptation of West Side Story and he put out an open casting call searching for fresh talent.
Rachel was 16 at the time but that did not stop her from diving into the process with a great deal of gusto. She posted videos of herself singing “I Feel Pretty” and “Tonight”, successfully separating herself from the pack. Over 30,000 applicants sought the role of Maria but Zegler was able to snag the part. This would mark her official debut in the world of film.
The film was not released until 2021, though. Once the general public was given the chance to see her performance, she (and the film itself) received a sizable amount of critical acclaim. The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards gave her a nomination for Best Young Performer. More impressively, she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
Zegler’s Golden Globe victory made history in multiple ways. For starters, Rachel was the first actress of Colombian descent to score a victory in this particular category. At 20 years of age, she was also the youngest actress to ever claim a victory for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
How Did Rachel Zegler Make Her Money?
Zegler has amassed her current fortune strictly through her acting roles, although we could envision a universe where she is able to monetize other platforms. Let’s take a closer look at some of her most iconic acting work, as well as her other areas of interest.
Acting
As discussed above, Zegler got her big break when she was cast in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story. Once she came to prominence, a number of other blockbuster film productions enlisted her services. Zegler was cast in the role of Anthea in Shazam! Fury of the Gods provided her first exposure to the world of franchises and comic book adaptations.
The roles are only becoming larger now. In late 2023, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was released, with Zegler in the role of Lucy Gray Baird. Her work was lavished with rave reviews, and fans were thrilled to learn that she had sung every song from the film live on set. There were no lip-syncing or pre-recorded vocals for the young actress to rely upon.
This year, she will be featured in the animated film Spellbound, which is slated to premiere on Netflix. This film provides the chance to act alongside Hollywood titans such as Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow, and Nathan Lane. The musical fantasy film will surely offer Zegler plenty of opportunities to flex those pipes she is so well known for.
Storied production company A24 tapped her services for their upcoming disaster comedy entitled Y2K. The film will serve as a humorous depiction of the rumored Y2K disaster that never actually took place, and Zegler is more than happy to stretch herself in a role where she can show her comedic acting chops. She will star alongside various luminaries and rising stars, such as Alicia Silverstone, Tha Kid Laroi, Jaeden Martell, and Mason Gooding.
Zegler will also be making her Walt Disney Pictures debut in 2025, playing the titular role in their latest adaptation of Snow White. Gal Godot will play the Evil Queen but the film has not been without controversy already, which we will go into further depth about soon enough.
YouTube Channel
While there are no publicly available figures being offered on the profits she’s made from her YouTube channel, it is not hard to imagine that she is lining her coffers with all of the views that she’s gotten. Even with her recent rise to superstardom, she continues to post on the channel periodically. Her most recent post is a cover of “Complex” by Katie Gregson-MacLeod, which has received over 200,000 views in the past 5 months.
Her cover of “Shallow” that was posted 5 years ago has received over 3.7 million views. It will be interesting to see whether the young starlet will still be willing to post on this channel as her fame grows. Once an actress has entered into partnerships with DC Films, Netflix, Disney and A24, it is easy to see why they may become reticent.
Rachel Zegler’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the actress and singer’s net worth currently sits at $3 million. It is probably a safe bet to assume that this number will soon rise. The plum roles that the critically acclaimed young actress has lined up all but assure it. We would also not be surprised to see Rachel pursue her singing career during the coming years, as there would surely be high demand for a full fledged album.
Rachel Zegler’s Snow White Controversy
This should have been the biggest moment of Zegler’s career thus far, right? Little girls dream of having the chance to play Snow White in a Disney film of their own and she has risen to the top of all these casting lists within a few short years. However, her acceptance of the role has not come without some level of controversy.
Some of these controversy was caused by longtime fans of the heroine, who are upset by Zegler’s casting for reasons that are beyond her control. As you may have expected, there were a number of observers who did not care for the casting of Zegler because her skin complexion differs from the usual actresses that are cast as Snow White.
These fans will hide their true motivations for the complaints behind concerns about tokenism and pandering but the damage was already done. Zegler also stirred the pot herself by making remarks about the tone of the new film that set off alarm bells for the more stodgy fans out there.
She gave a red carpet interview alongside her co-star, Gal Godot, that served to draw a sizable amount of ire. Zegler said that Snow White is not going to exist as a complement to the prince and that she is not going to be waiting to be saved. Her primary objective will have nothing to do with true love, either.
This sparked concerns that the classic story would be altered to include a more modernized feminist message. At the moment, it is unclear how real those concerns may be but Zegler has already riled up the audience with these claims. Instead of engaging with the point she was trying to make, fans are of the belief that she was denigrating the concepts of traditional love and marriage.
Some Disney fans asked for her to be replaced, while others applauded her willingness to speak her mind. The studio is proceeding with the movie as planned and it is already one of the most anticipated releases of 2025. We fully expect this adaptation to push her to an even higher level of stardom.
Rachel Zegler’s History of Being Outspoken
As someone who takes a great deal of pride in her Latina heritage, Zegler views it as her personal responsibility to remain outspoken on a wide range of topics. She speaks truth to power at all times and Teen Vogue even compiled a list of all of her best commentary. For starters, she took direct aim at the toxic online commentary that stars of her magnitude are forced to face nowadays.
She referred to herself as Teflon and spoke of the importance of coming together with those who think differently. Zegler prioritizes the emotional connections that her work has to offer. She has no time to engage with trolls and will not waste any of her time demanding that they accept her for who she is. It’s a very mature and wise perspective for someone in her age group.
Zegler also felt compelled to weigh in on the current discourse that surrounds pop megastar Taylor Swift’s current relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs’ star tight end, Travis Kelce. When a podcast host decided to make a cruel remark, demanding to see video evidence of Taylor and Travis canoodling, she stepped in to let the world know that this is not okay.
Rachel spoke of the entitlement that many male observers seem to have when it comes to women’s bodies. She also pointed out the double standard that was applied here, as a man would never be subjected to the same questions. When people tried to absolve the podcast host by calling the remarks a joke, she would not let them off the hook. She’s tired of these “jokes” being made without any form of consequences.
Zegler managed to upset comic book film lovers as well, by making a very innocent remark during a red carpet junket for Shazam! Fury of the Gods. She was asked why she took the role and very plainly replied that she did so because she was in need of a job. At the time, West Side Story was not out and she was finding it challenging to locate roles.
Rachel Zegler’s Future Prognosis
Between her acting skills, singing talent and propensity for finding the spotlight, Rachel Zegler net worth is only going to continue to rise. We would be willing to bet that you will see her face in more and more franchise pictures, as well as additional musicals.
The future could not be brighter for Rachel, as she continues to line up a future list of roles that other young actresses can only hope to match. The fact that she is so willing to speak her mind is just icing on the cake.
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