If there's one thing Rachel Zegler doesn't take lightly, it's disrespect, which is why she's showing her public support for fellow stage actor Francesca Amewudah-Rivers.
Rachel currently stars as Juliet alongside Heartstopper's Kit Connor as Romeo in Sam Gold's new Broadway adaptation of Romeo + Juliet, with a Gen Z twist.
Francesca recently starred as Juliet in Jamie Lloyd's West End production of the famed Shakespeare play, with Tom Holland as her Romeo. Unfortunately, her casting was plagued by racist backlash from bigoted people who refused to accept a Black woman playing this role.
“I received death threats, hate mail sent to the theatre,” Francesca told the Stage, according to Teen Vogue. “I didn’t feel safe at work.”
The horrific treatment led to the theater company writing an open letter condemning these actions. Despite not mentioning Francesca's name, they also swore to "protect" everyone involved with their organization.
But many believed that wasn't enough. A petition, which specifically called out the treatment of Black performers — particularly Black women — was later created and signed by more than 800 theater artists.
But it didn't stop there. Actor Tamara Lawrance created a second petition via Change.org demanding concrete changes be made in an attempt to shield their Black performers from the abuse that has almost become routine with projects like this. This includes providing security, therapy, and sufficient support. It's already earned 10K signatures.
Other stars, including EGOT recipient Viola Davis, have spoken out in support of Francesca, and now Rachel is the latest to do so. In a recent Teen Vogue interview, she explained why she felt like the people around Francesca didn't protect her properly.
The Snow White star, who was also the target of racist trolls after it was announced that a Latina actor would be portraying the live-action Disney princess, revealed she reached out to Francesca to tell her, "you're the greatest."
"I think she was failed by the people around her," Rachel told Teen Vogue. "You need to protect people when you make a vow to cast them in something where you know — you can't act stupid, you know how the general public is going to act because they've been acting that way for years."
Rachel couldn't believe the vile things that were being said about Francesca. She then called out the people who remained silent during it all and those who waited to come to her defense.
"You need to fucking say something. You need to move quickly and make sure that she is protected. I've never seen such heinous things said about a person before than [I did about] her. It took absolutely nothing out of me to shoot out a tweet saying that she was my Juliet."
Rachel went on to praise Francesca, calling her "one of the most talented young actresses working in London theater," and gush on how excited she is to watch her flourish in her career.
"All it takes is one word of kindness," Rachel added. "And she was extremely thankful, and that is very beautiful of her. But it took absolutely nothing out of me, and I told her not to thank me for that."
"It is basic human decency and basic kindness. She got such rave reviews in that for a reason. She's a fucking titan. I love her dearly, and I can't wait to see the things she does."
We love a girl's girl, and anyone who isn't afraid to stand up for others!
To learn more about Rachel's perspective, be sure to read her full Teen Vogue interview.
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