

"When we got Rachel’s self-tape, I don’t really think I’d ever heard Sondheim sung like that before," West Side Story’s casting director Cindy Tolan told T&C. The actress responded to an open casting call for the roll, and sent video of herself singing the song to She eventually kept getting called back for the part because of her unique take on the number. "I Feel Pretty" was, in fact, instrumental in Zegler's casting. The only thing that I can do is sing about how it’s a beautiful feeling.'" It’s not 'This white boy likes me, so I must be beautiful.' It’s 'I feel all of these emotions right now. The love she feels is what makes her beautiful, not the love from the man. "It really irks me when people don’t see it as this cultural definition of how she feels beautiful as a Latina. But it’s so much more than that," Zegler said, in T&C's September 2021 cover story.

"So many people see that as this two-dimensional song about, Oh, she’s just in love and it’s great. The musical number occurs when Maria is in the bridal shop where she works, singing that she feels "oh so pretty" because she is "loved by a pretty wonderful boy." Though the song is, on a surface level, about feeling beautiful, Zegler told T&C about the deeper meanings behind the lyrics.
#THE POWER AND ME PROGRAM WESTSIDE MOVIE#
Of course, the movie will feature the musical's famed soundtrack, including one special song in particular, which has become inextricably tied to West Side Story-"I Feel Pretty." The movie will introduce audiences to breakout star Rachel Zegler, who, at age 17, was selected for the role of Maria Vasquez. This December, theater lovers are getting a brand new West Side Story, a film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tony Kushner.
