Rachel Zegler, the actress with Colombian roots who complained about not being invited to the Oscars and will now be the presenter

Last year the name Rachel Zegler began to sound louder. Although she has already participated in powerful audiovisual productions, her presence became more evident when she became one of the protagonists of Latin American origin in director Steven Spielberg's most recent film. The actress, of Colombian descent, is the protagonist of 'West Side Story. To these days, the actress was involved in a controversy after it was reported that she had been ignored from the list of guests who will attend the Oscar ceremony, however, that story took a major turn.

The young artist will not only be at the ceremony, but will also have the opportunity to be a presenter. The indignation lies in the fact that the American filmmaker's film has seven chances of winning the accolade awarded by the academy, reason enough for her to be one of the main guests according to those who expressed their indignation when they noticed her absence from the guest list. It was Rachel herself who reported that she had not been invited when one of her followers asked her about the dress she would wear on the long-awaited night.

“I'm not invited, so sweatpants and my boyfriend's flannel (...) I've tried everything, but it doesn't seem to happen (...) I will support West Side Story from my couch and be proud of the work we did so tirelessly 3 years ago. I hope that some last-minute miracle happens and I can celebrate our film in person, but hey, that's how it happens sometimes, I guess. Thank you for all the shock and outrage. I'm disappointed, too. But it's okay. I am very proud of our film,” she commented on her Instagram account. Rachel was chosen by Spielberg himself to star in his film.

“I saw Rachel's singing audition on the first day we started casting, and I couldn't believe that this beautiful 17-year-old singer, of Colombian blood, had it in her possession (the role of Maria). I couldn't believe I sang so well,” commented the film director.

Faced with the controversy that arose because of her absence, followers began to complain to the academy for how ignored it was despite, at the same time, being praised for her role as Maria in Spielberg's film. Faced with hundreds of comments, Rachel, on her Twitter account, said: “I appreciate all the support, I really appreciate it. We live in unprecedented times and it takes a lot of work behind the cameras to make the magic of cinema happen, and so does the awards show. Let's respect the process.”

Colleagues of the actress also commented on this. Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff in 'West Side Story, in the 1961 version and is a voting member of the Academy, said: “It is the duty of the Academy to find Rachel a seat at the Oscars... When they say that representation matters, this is what that means. Please do the right thing with her.”

Given the statements of the 20-year-old actress, it was reported that the young girl will be at the gala, as the presenter of one of the awards awarded by the academy. In an article made for El País, it was highlighted that “a publicist who knows the work of the Oscar campaigns, who prefers not to reveal his name in order to speak freely, believes that the actress's “tantrum” could have been handled out of focus and achieved the same result through an internal petition at Disney, the media giant owner of 20th Century Fox, the studio that produced the new version of the musical”.

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