section_path: Career/2018–2021: West Side Story and breakthrough
section_name: 2018–2021: West Side Story and breakthrough
paragraph_text: 2018–2021: West Side Story and breakthrough
  
  In January 2018, director Steven Spielberg posted an open casting call via Twitter for a new film adaptation of West Side Story. Zegler, then 16 years old, responded with videos of herself singing " Tonight " and " I Feel Pretty "; she had performed the role of Maria at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in 2017. She was selected from more than 30,000 applicants for the role, marking her film debut. The film was released in December 2021, and earned acclaim from critics and audiences.
  
  For her performance, Zegler received a Critics' Choice Movie Award nomination for Best Young Performer and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, She was the first actress of Colombian descent to win in that category and, at age 20, the youngest.
  
  In January 2018, director Steven Spielberg posted an open casting call via Twitter for a new film adaptation of West Side Story. Zegler, then 16 years old, responded with videos of herself singing " Tonight " and " I Feel Pretty "; she had performed the role of Maria at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in 2017. She was selected from more than 30,000 applicants for the role, marking her film debut. The film was released in December 2021, and earned acclaim from critics and audiences.
  
  For her performance, Zegler received a Critics' Choice Movie Award nomination for Best Young Performer and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, She was the first actress of Colombian descent to win in that category and, at age 20, the youngest.