Unless “some last-minute miracle occurs,” West Side Story star Rachel Zegler will be chillaxing at home on Oscar night (March 27).
This past weekend, the 20-year-old actress made a comment on Instagram when a random user said that he couldn’t wait to see what she would be wearing to the Academy Award ceremony. Zegler’s response: “I’m not invited, so sweatpants and my boyfriend’s flannel.”
Each year, a pair of tickets to the ceremony are given to each nominee and presenter. Other tickets, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “come out of allotments given to each studio.” So, it seems, at least for now, Zegler hasn’t been offered one of those extra tickets by 20th Century Studios. THR also reports that “the Academy not infrequently finds additional tickets for VIPs who wish to attend,” so maybe they can scrape a couple up for Zegler.
When fans online began to question why the lead actress of a film nominated for Best Picture wasn’t “invited” to the Oscars, Zegler commented that she tried to get a ticket, but to no avail. Instead, she said, she “will root for West Side Story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did three years ago…Thanks for all the shock and outrage. I’m disappointed, too, but that’s okay. So proud of our movie.”
While it’s obvious that everyone involved in an Oscar-nominated film can’t be invited to the Oscars, it’ll be interesting to see if other actresses like Jennifer Lawrence (Don’t Look Up), Zendaya (Dune), Rooney Mara (Nightmare Alley), or Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) get to walk the red carpet. Like Zegler, they’re the leads of their Best Picture-nominated films, too, but weren’t nominated themselves.
Here hoping Rachel Zelger scores a pair of tickets at the last minute – even if they are in the nosebleeds.