Rachel Zegler Reveals Steven Spielberg's Best Advice And It's Pretty Solid

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 didnt hestitate: Everybody else is just as scared as you are, so use it.

Thats good, Cohen said on Friday.

And we have to agree. Even if you arent 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 hes been pretty gracious about obliging.

At the Berlin Film Festival in February, he went overtime at a press conference to school wannabe directors .

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

One of the things Ive learned is you have got to have a good script. Ive always said, If it aint on the page, it aint 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 dont feel thats your strong suit, meet somebody whose strong suit is storytelling and writing, and form a little partnership, because its 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 .

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy6D16zE_mMEm1HVD20WFxA","cache_age":86400,"description":"West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler says the biggest splurge shes made since raking in big paychecks has been owning a dog and she didnt realize how many snacks people would offer her as a famous person. She also says she was the most starstruck by Serena and Venus Williams at her first Academy Awards and describes grasping her heart when they walked by because theyre actually real people. When it comes to the most famous contact in her phone, that honor goes to Steven Spielberg who gave her a great piece of advice: Everybody else is just as scared as you are, so use it.\n\n Subscribe To WWHL: http://bravo.ly/WWHLSub\n\nWatch WWHL Sunday-Thursday:\nWWHL Website: http://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-happens-live\nFollow WWHL: https://twitter.com/BravoWWHL\nLike WWHL: https://www.facebook.com/WatchWhatHappensLive\nWWHL Tumblr: http://bravowwhl.tumblr.com/\n\n'Watch What Happens: Live' is Bravo's late-night, interactive talk show that features guests from the world of entertainment, politics, and pop culture. Hosted by Andy Cohen, the series includes lively debates on everything from fashion, the latest on everyone's favorite Bravolebrities, and what celebrity is making headlines that week. Past guests who have joined Cohen in the Bravo Clubhouse include Sarah Jessica Parker, Tina Fey, Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Liam Neeson, Kelly Ripa, Jimmy Fallon, Anderson Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Lance Bass.\n\nWatch More Bravo:\nBravo Website: http://www.bravotv.com/\nBravo Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/videobybravo\nFollow Bravo: http://www.twitter.com/bravotv\nLike Bravo: https://www.facebook.com/BRAVO\nPin Bravo: http://www.pinterest.com/bravobybravo\nBravo Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/bravotv\nBravo Tumblr: http://bravotv.tumblr.com/","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JaNFGRTrPVM/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Rachel Zegler Reveals Steven Spielbergs Advice | WWHL","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=JaNFGRTrPVM","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"655b5038e4b0ce6a31bde85f","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/rachel-zegler-steven-spielberg-advice_n_655b5038e4b0ce6a31bde85f","entryTagsList":"andy-cohen,steven-spielberg,rachel-zegler,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://action.news/entertainment","subcategories":"women,celebrity","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/937123f2-2cc4-478b-8ad9-742b4e4541aa/2_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":12},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"655b5038e4b0ce6a31bde85f","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"andy cohen","slug":"andy-cohen","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/andy-cohen","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/andy-cohen","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/andy-cohen"},"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Andy Cohen","slug":"andy-cohen","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/entertainment/topic/andy-cohen"},{"name":"steven spielberg","slug":"steven-spielberg","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/steven-spielberg","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/steven-spielberg","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/steven-spielberg"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/steven-spielberg"},{"name":"rachel zegler","slug":"rachel-zegler","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/rachel-zegler","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/rachel-zegler","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/rachel-zegler"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/rachel-zegler"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">