‘I’m being so serious’: Rachel Zegler says she took Shazam! Fury of the Gods role because she ‘needed a job’

Actor said she’d found it ‘really hard to book work’ during the pandemic

Rachel Zegler has admitted that she accepted her role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods because she “needed a job”.

The West Side Story star appears opposite Zachary Levi in the follow-up to the 2019 DC superhero movie Shazam!.

Speaking on the red carpet at the film’s premiere on Wednesday (15 March), The Hollywood Reporter asked Zegler: “What made you want to step into this world of DC heroes?”

“I needed a job,” Zegler replied, while looking into the camera. “I’m being so serious.”

The clip was reposted on Instagram by pop culture commentator Evan Ross Katz, who then shared a screenshot in which Zegler appears to reply to the clip over message with the words: “Yeah. YEAH.”

The Hollywood Reporter shared the shortened footage on social media, with fans sharing their appreciation for the 21-year-old’s candour.

“The most cost-effective three-second resume in history, @rachelzegler is going to be a huge star,” one fan wrote.

“I was a fan after seeing West Side Story but I’m a bigger fan now,” another Twitter user said.

Another comment read: “Respect the honesty.”

Zegler appears to address the clip on Instagram (Evan Ross Katz/Instagram)

In the full interview, Zegler explained: “I mean, a lot of people keep asking me… [but] the reality was we were in the middle of a pandemic and I was not working and couldn’t get a job for the life of me because West Side Story hadn’t come out yet. It was really hard to book work for me.”

However, she stressed that she was “really excited” to get the offer to appear in the sequel as she’d “loved the first movie”.

“The fact that they even wanted me to come in for a callback, and then a [chemistry] read, and then everything in between – I’m so lucky that I got this job.”

In her two-star review of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Independent’s wrote that Zegler and her co-stars Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu “seemed to have (accurately) understood that all that’s needed from them is to look cool in their costumes and then cash their cheques”.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is out now.