Even though Maddie Ziegler is only 19 years old and has already done a lot, her career in feature films will take a big stride ahead with the release of a specific movie in 2021. In Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Ziegler portrays Velma. In addition to being Ziegler’s biggest Hollywood undertaking to date, the film is a reimagining of an Academy Award–winning classic that is already garnering recognition throughout this year’s award season.
Ziegler had the opportunity to talk about her career in the entertainment industry so far while appearing on Collider’s Ladies Night promoting another amazing new film, The Fallout on HBO Max. We talked about how she got started acting, the lessons she’d learned from doing music videos, what it was like to work with Jenna Ortega on The Fallout, and, of course, the specifics of how she got the part in West Side Story.
“They were holding auditions everywhere—in Puerto Rico, New York, and LA—and I went to the LA one. I only had a little time with Justin Peck, his wife Patty [Lucia Delgado], another assistant choreographer named Craig [Salstein], and them to learn the dance. We succeeded. It was taped. Great! It went pretty well, and after that, the casting director Cindy Tolan and I walked into a room. I adore her utterly. I shared maybe three lines of reading with her before leaving.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I said when I was called to [the] New York audition. When I enter, I see Steven Spielberg there and I just think, “Cool! So this is it, then. This is what’s taking place. After that, they said, “We want you to come in tomorrow.” I went in the following day and read some lines with Steven while shivering. It was quite nerve-wracking to perform a New York accent as well. It was a fantastic experience, and when I left, I thought, “That was wonderful.” I doubt I’ll understand it, so that’s enjoyable. Afterward, I received a call a few months later. The weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.
In Collider’s Ladies Night discussion on West Side Story, she also talked about her experience working on one of the film’s most terrifying scenes. Given Ziegler’s expertise in dance, one could assume that the sparkling gym dance routine felt like at home for her. But what happens when Anita, played by Ariana DeBose, visits Doc’s and is attacked by the Jets? Ziegler took a time to acknowledge DeBose’s outstanding performance and to draw attention to an essential distinction between that sequence in this new version and the 1961 original:
“First of all, Ariana’s performance as Anita was incredibly emotional. That was really stunning in every way. I thought it was incredibly interesting to see the scene from the perspective of other women who were present in the room. It’s a topic that I believe is crucially important and that demands discussion. It was weird to include that element into the film, but I’m glad they did because female support is so crucial.
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