What happens when two of the greatest young musical actors of our time sit down together? When those two people are as pleasant as Andrew Garfield and Rachel Zegler, only good things.
The two sat down with Variety and shared more than we could have hoped for and seemingly, more than they could have hoped for.
“You are in my favorite movie of the year,” Andrew Garfield told the young star.
“You are in my favorite movie of the year,” Rachel Zegler returned the favor.
Garfield continued with more words of encouragement. “What you’ve done is just so stunning and soulful and authentic and genuine and real! Totally reinvigorating this classic thing in your own way. I am absolutely, weirdly proud of someone that I’ve never met.”
“I cannot even believe those words just came out of your face towards my face.” Rachel gushed. “What’s going on?! That’s coming from someone who’s been watching you for so long.”
“I was 12 or 13 the first time I ever performed onstage with a cast of people.” Rachel said later. “It was Fiddler on the Roof. I think I said three words the whole show. I was so in love with getting onstage and people reacting in real time. There’s an instant gratification to performance art. The vocation, film-wise, came from watching Steven Spielberg work. I realized how important it was to so many people. Now I want to do film more than anything. Do you feel particularly called toward one or the other?”
“It’s funny. When Lin-Manuel Miranda first showed me the rough cut of Tick, Tick, I became that 17-year-old drama student again.” Andrew replied. “Suddenly I wasn’t a 38-year-old man that’s been doing this for almost two decades. I was suddenly having a conversation with myself as a younger artist, wondering where I was going to end up and then ending up where I am.”
Though they both had nothing but sweetness to share, their last words rang the truest. Andrew Garfield had asked about Snow White, and Zegler shared her excitement about Snow White being of Latin descent this time. “When it [Snow White] was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry.”
Garfield’s reply was priceless. “Ah, those people. The people that we need to educate. The people that we need to love into awareness.”
“We need to love them in the right direction.” Zegler agreed. “At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I’m really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess.”
It was as if “I’m Tickled Pink” by Jack Shaindlin was playing in the background during their conversation. There’s no release date for the new Snow White adaption yet. In the meantime, catch Rachel Zegler on West Side Story and Andrew Garfield on Tick, Tick… Boom!