‘West Side Story’ Casting Director Reflects on 18-Month-Long Search to Find ‘Quadruple Threats’ for Authentic Cast

Jennifer Hudson, you are no longer alone. The former “American Idol” star won Best Supporting Actress for “Dreamgirls” in 2007 becoming the first reality competition contestant to win an Academy Award.

Ariana DeBose is taking home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s . She is the second actress to win the Oscar for playing the Broadway character, following Rita Moreno‘s win in 1962.

The 31-year-old American actor is one of the big favourite to pick up a gong at Sunday’s Oscars. Awards season is in full swing in Hollywood, with the 94th Academy Awards taking place this weekend.

Best Picture Oscar nominees CODA, West Side Story and Don’t Look Up were among the winners at the Casting Society’s 37th annual Artios Awards, which were handed out today during a virtual ceremony that streamed live on YouTube. Check out the full list below.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor“CODA,” “Encanto” and “West Side Story” were received top honors at the 37th annual Artios Awards.The Casting Society honors excellence in casting across feature films, television and theater. The organization held a virtual ceremony on Wednesday, also celebrating its 40th anniversary.To kick off the virtual ceremony, a montage commemorating the anniversary as shown, demonstrating the significance of the Casting Society to casting directors and associates, past and present.“We are so excited to honor these immensely talented, creative and hard-working casting directors tonight,” said Casting Society president Kim Williams.

Rachel Zegler will be at the Oscars after all. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its latest lineup of presenters for Sunday's show, and Zegler's name is on it. The addition of Zegler as a presenter comes after she took to Instagram Saturday to share a photo slideshow recapping the last few months, in which she revealed that she wasn't given a ticket to attend the 94th Academy Awards.«A quarter of the year well spent,» Zegler captioned the post, which saw the  star working, enjoying some downtime and attending several awards shows in her finest evening wear.The revelation came in the comments, when one fan wrote, «Can’t wait to see what you’ll be wearing on Oscar night.» Zegler responded directly to the user, writing, «I'm not invited, so sweatpants and my boyfriend's flannel.»Outraged fans quickly questioned why the actress wasn't given an invite to the show, even though the Steven Spielberg-directed film is up for several awards this year, including Best Picture.The 20-year-old actress seemed just as confused, sharing that she tried to obtain a ticket to the March 27th show.«Idk y’all i have tried it all but it doesn’t seem to be happening :’) i will root for west side story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago,» Zegler, who plays Maria in the remake of the 1961 classic, said.Despite not getting a ticket to the show, Zegler said she's proud of the film and is still holding out hope for some kind of last minute miracle.«I hope some last minute miracle occurs and i can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, i guess. thanks for all the shock and outrage — i’m disappointed, too.

We have confirmed that "West Side Story" star Rachel Zegler has been invited to the Oscars after all.There’s word out there that the Academy has invited her to be a presenter, however, they won’t confirm. What is clear is that the actress’ production schedule in London on the Disney movie "Snow White" has loosened up so that she can head to Los Angeles and watch the show live instead of in sweatpants and her boyfriend’s flannel from her couch, as she indicated on Instagram over the weekend to her followers who were enraged to hear that the actress be a no-show.  Rachel Zegler initially told fans on social media that she wasn't invited to this year's Academy Awards despite her film being nominated.

Rachel Zegler has been asked to present at the 2022 Oscars on Sunday. According to , the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the actress to be a presenter at the ceremony.The invite to present comes after Zegler took to Instagram Saturday to share a photo slideshow recapping the last few months, in which she revealed that she wasn't given a ticket to attend the 94th Academy Awards.«A quarter of the year well spent,» Zegler captioned the post, which saw the  star working, enjoying some downtime and attending several awards shows in her finest evening wear.The revelation came in the comments, when one fan wrote, «Can’t wait to see what you’ll be wearing on Oscar night.» Zegler responded directly to the user, writing, «I'm not invited, so sweatpants and my boyfriend's flannel.»Outraged fans quickly questioned why the actress wasn't given an invite to the show, even though the Steven Spielberg-directed film is up for several awards this year, including Best Picture.The 20-year-old actress seemed just as confused, sharing that she tried to obtain a ticket to the March 27th show.«Idk y’all i have tried it all but it doesn’t seem to be happening :’) i will root for west side story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago,» Zegler, who plays Maria in the remake of the 1961 classic, said.Despite not getting a ticket to the show, Zegler said she's proud of the film and is still holding out hope for some kind of last minute miracle.«I hope some last minute miracle occurs and i can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, i guess.

not invited to the 2022 Oscars despite the Steven Spielberg-helmed musical scoring seven nods at the award show.But Russ Tamblyn — who played Riff in the 1961 adaption of the Broadway play — is not happy about the invite snub.“@TheAcademy As a voting member and the original Riff, let me say: it’s your duty to find Rachel a seat at the Oscars,” Tamblyn, 87, tweeted on March 21.“She STARS in #Westsidestory which is nominated across the board. When they say representation matters, this is what that means. Please do right by her,” he continued.Tamblyn tweeted his thoughts in response to a Los Angeles Times report regarding Zegler’s snub.@TheAcademy as a voting member and the original Riff, let me say: it’s your duty to find Rachel a seat at the Oscars.

This Sunday, Hollywood’s elite will walk the red carpet at the 94th Academy Awards. However, despite its seven Oscar nominations, apparently “West Side Story” actress Rachel Zegler, the lead actor of the film that the story revolves around, has not been invited tothe ceremony.

West Side Story star Rachel Zegler has said she hasn’t been invited to this year’s Oscars ceremony.The actress took on the lead role of Maria in Steven Spielberg‘s recent remake of the classic musical, which is up for seven awards at next weekend’s Academy Awards including Best Picture.However, while replying to a fan on Instagram who complemented a series of pictures she posted and was excited to see what she would wear for the Oscars, the star revealed she “wasn’t invited”.Zegler elaborated in the comments: “I have tried it all but it doesn’t seem to be happening :’) I will root for West Side Story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago.A post shared by rachel zegler (@rachelzegler)“I hope some last minute miracle occurs and I can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess. Thanks for all the shock and outrage— I’m disappointed, too.

A snub like that! West Side Story star Rachel Zegler claims she wasn’t invited to the 94th annual Academy Awards despite its seven nominations.

There’s a place for us (Rachel Zegler fans), somewhere a time for us…but it looks like it won’t be at next weekend’s Academy Awards. After fans questioned the West Side Story star, 20, on whether or not she’d be in attendance at the annual event, Rachel that although she “tried,” she’d be watching from home with her in sweats and cozy flannel.

Rachel Zegler at the Oscars next Sunday. Zegler took to Instagram Saturday to share a photo slideshow recapping the last few months, when she revealed that she wasn't invited to the 94th Academy Awards.«A quarter of the year well spent,» Zegler captioned the post, which saw the  star working, enjoying some downtime and attending several awards shows in her finest evening wear.The revelation came in the comments, when one fan wrote, «Can’t wait to see what you’ll be wearing on Oscar night.» Zegler responded directly to the user, writing, «I'm not invited, so sweatpants and my boyfriend's flannel.»Outraged fans quickly questioned why the actress wasn't given an invite to the show, even though the Steven Spielberg-directed film is up for several awards this year, including Best Picture.The 20-year-old actress seemed just as confused, sharing that she tried to obtain a ticket to the March 27th show.«Idk y’all i have tried it all but it doesn’t seem to be happening :’) i will root for west side story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago,» Zegler, who plays Maria in the remake of the 1961 classic, said.Despite not getting a ticket to the show, Zegler said she's proud of the film and is still holding out hope for some kind of last minute miracle.«I hope some last minute miracle occurs and i can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, i guess.

Rita Moreno is back on the awards season circuit with Steven Spielberg's celebrated new adaptation of the Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical and ready to cheer on Ariana DeBose, who is poised to make Oscars history once again with a win for the same role.«I'll tell you what, this is an Oscar part,» Moreno told ET's Will Marfuggi at the 74th Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday night. «And I can tell you the scene that seals it, and it's the scene in the candy store.

K.J. Yossman From Lady Gaga to the cast of “West Side Story,” it was the night Tinseltown came to London.The 2022 Critics Choice Awards hosted a satellite ceremony in the British capital on Sunday night after the omicron variant of COVID-19 forced the show to vacate its initial slot of Jan.

Dune, West Side Story and Nightmare Alley were among the big film winners at the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ 69th Golden Reel Awards, which were handed out during a virtual ceremony tonight. See the full list below.

Golden Reel Awards were held this Sunday, honoring the best achievements in sound editing across film, television, video games and student work with “Dune,” “Nightmare Alley” and “West Side Story” among the winners.The ceremony, which was held virtually, was opened by an address from Motion Pictures Sound Editors president Mark Lanza congratulating the members of the organization for their continued work over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.“These past two years, our members led the way in developing remote solutions that kept them working,” Lanza said at the ceremony. “We salute their ingenuity.