Snow White Star Rachel Zegler Aims to Flip the Script With Gender-Swapped Shakespeare Reboot

written by Craig Ellison

March 28, 2026 1:12 pm

Snow White Star Rachel Zegler Aims to Flip the Script With Gender-Swapped Shakespeare Reboot — Image credit: Legion-Media

After Snow White and West Side Story, Rachel Zegler is gunning for the Bard’s throne, pitching a radical gender-swapped Hamlet with herself in the title role.

So, Rachel Zegler—the same Rachel who starred in Spielberg's West Side Story and the not-so-well-received Disney live-action Snow White—apparently isn’t done shaking things up. In a new interview, she threw out an idea that honestly sounds equal parts ambitious and wild: she wants to play Hamlet. But not just any Hamlet—a full-on gender-swapped version of Shakespeare’s most emo prince.

If you’re already thinking, 'Wait, hasn’t someone done that before?'—yes, you’re right. Ruth Negga took on Hamlet in 2020, and Cush Jumbo also gave us her take a year later in a big-deal UK production. So the idea’s not totally unprecedented, but Zegler’s pretty game to put her own spin on it. In her own words:

'If they'll have me, I'm dying to do more Shakespeare, my God. I'd love to do a female Hamlet. I think that'd be so fun. Well, not 'fun,' really, but you know.'

For context, Zegler’s no stranger to reworking the classics. Remember, West Side Story is basically just Romeo and Juliet with added dance numbers and less poison. So, her wanting to play Hamlet—arguably the most complicated character in the Shakespeare catalog, gender aside—is both in left field and kind of on brand for her.

What else is Rachel Zegler up to?

Turns out, she’s pretty busy, even if she has to keep most of it under wraps for now. Zegler would only say that she’s currently filming a new musical, but she wouldn’t drop any specifics. Teasing a little, she called it 'a musical film I’m really excited about, and I wish I could tell you what it is because I’m working with some f***ing amazing people on it. But I can’t.'

Just to fuel the rumor mill:

Zegler is rumored to be playing Gloria Estefan in a biopic (no confirmation yet, but it keeps popping up everywhere).
There’s a report she’ll headline another movie called She Gets It from Me. No details yet, but it’s supposedly happening.

So, to sum up: Rachel Zegler wants to tackle Hamlet in a way that intentionally messes with tradition, she’s working on a hush-hush musical that has her pretty hyped, and there’s some strong buzz she’s jumping into at least one major biopic soon. Apparently, not even a lukewarm Disney remake can slow her down.