SHAZAM! Actress Rachel Zegler Was Almost Cast as Supergirl in THE FLASH
West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler will make her big superhero movie debut in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. She will take on the role of Anthea, one of the three Daughters of Atlas, alongside Lucy Liu’s Kalypso and Helen Mirren’s Hespera.
It turns out that before she jumped on board that movie, she originally auditioned for Supergirl in The Flash, a role that eventually went to Sasha Calle. During an interview with /Film, Zegler talked about her experience and how auditioning for Supergirl led to landing her role in The Flash:
“I read for Rich [Delia], who was our casting director, and he originally had come to me with Supergirl for Flash, and I was not right for it. He was like, ‘You know what, I’ve got a character in mind for you for Shazam!. They’re looking at X, Y, Z. We would love it if you came in and read.'”
Zegler ended up reading for the role and talked about what that audition process was like for her and how she ended up being offered the role thanks to Shazam! franchise star Jack Dylan Grazer. She said:
“So I read on Zoom. Obviously, the era of Zoom is isolation, pandemic era. Then I went back in, and I read for David Sandberg, and then for the last time, I had a chemistry read with Jack Dylan Grazer. The story goes that Jack picked me. That Peter Safran, our producer, turned to him and was like, ‘Which one did you like the best, Jack?’ and he said, ‘Well, she’s Maria in West Side Story, so we got to have her.’ Because Jack is a very big West Side Story fan. Jack loves West Side Story. So I have him to thank, really.”
So, in the end, everything worked out for Zegler and she landed a role in the DC Cinematic Universe. Sure, Supergirl would have been a much cooler character to play, but Calle was definitely the better choice for that.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods “will continue the story of teenage Billy Batson, who upon reciting the magic word ‘SHAZAM!’ is struck by the Living Lightning of the gods and transformed into his adult superhero alter ego, Shazam. He has the powers of six gods: the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury.”
Billy Batson and his foster siblings, who can all transform into superheroes, jump into action and fight against the Daughters of Atlas to save the world from a weapon that could destroy it. As you’ll see, this isn’t an easy feat and Billy starts to doubt himself and if he can actually pull it off.
David F. Sandberg is back as the director and the characters and cast in the film include Billy Baston (Asher Angel and Zachary Levi), Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody), Eugene (Ian Chen and Ross Butler), Pedro (Jovan Armand and D.J. Cotrona), Darla (Faithe Herman and Meagan Good), and Mary (Grace Fulton and Michelle Borth). Helen Mirren is taking on the role of Hespera and Lucy Liu is playing Kalypso.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will hit theaters on March 17th, 2023.
