Actor Rachel Zegler got words of wisdom from director Steven Spielberg that are keepers. (Watch the video below.)
“Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen recently asked Zegler, who worked with Spielberg on her first film “West Side Story,” for the best advice she received from the iconic filmmaker.
Zegler didn’t hestitate: “Everybody else is just as scared as you are, so use it.”
“That’s good,” Cohen said on Friday.
And we have to agree. Even if you aren’t Zegler, who beat out 30,000 hopefuls to play the lead in the famous musical remake, learning to channel fear can be a big help.
Spielberg is often asked for tips and he’s been pretty gracious about obliging.
At the Berlin Film Festival in February, he went overtime at a press conference to school wannabe directors.
“One of the things I’ve learned is you have got to have a good script. I’ve always said, ‘If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.’ And I really believe that,” he said. “So my advice is that if you want to be a movie director — first of all, write — and if you don’t feel that’s your strong suit, meet somebody whose strong suit is storytelling and writing, and form a little partnership, because it’s stories that get an audience to pay attention to you and not the shots.”
Zegler meanwhile is now appearing in the “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” She sings in that one as well.