Rachel Zegler is still shocked by some of her experiences throughout the West Side Story casting process.

“There’s confusion because I don’t have a single ounce of Latin in my name,” she told Los Angeles Times in a Tuesday interview. “When I was in the running for María in West Side Story, they kept calling to ask if I was legit. I remember thinking, ‘Do you want me to bring my abuelita in?’ I will. I’ll bring her into the studio if you want to meet her.”

The 23-year-old, New Jersey-born actress was among thousands of talents, well known and otherwise, who vied for the plum role in the adaptation of the 1957 stage musical. Zegler was very much in the “otherwise” camp, having never appeared in a screen role before director Steven Spielberg put out a 2018 casting call for Spanish-speaking actors for the film. The resulting film, which earned Zegler’s costar Ariana DeBose an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, also draws heavily on the first film adaptation of the musical, which massively expanded the star profile of its María, Natalie Wood.

Zegler landed the role in 2019 on the strength of an audition tape in which she performed West Side Story classics “Tonight” and “Me Siento Hermosa.” Her life has transformed since then, with starring roles in massive franchises like the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and soon in Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White.

But she looks back on the casting process for that breakout role with some mixed feelings. Zegler noted how unsettling it was to have “a bunch of white executives have you prove your identity to them.” But she reasons that “it’s an interesting experience being part of that diaspora in the current climate we live in,” enthusing, “I love being Colombian.”

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Zegler was born to a Colombian American mother and Polish American father. Though her short career has not yet afforded her another opportunity to draw deeply on her Latina heritage for a role, she will get that opportunity again this summer, when she takes to the West End stage in the titular role for a revival of Evita.

But fans will get to see Zegler next as Snow White, Disney’s first princess. She recently revealed that her West Side Story director has a lot to do with her casting in the live-action remake.

“I actually got a really glowing recommendation from Steven Spielberg to [director] Marc Webb,” Zegler said on Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “I also got a text from Steven kind of alluding to the fact that I had gotten the part before I found out. Because I wished him a happy Father’s Day, as one does, and he texted me a bunch of apple emojis as a response.”