Maria Vanquez

Maria Vanquez is is one of the two main protagonists in her first movie, West Side Story. She She is a young Puerto Rican girl who was raised in America in New York City by her older brother Bernardo and Tony's love interest and she is portrayed by Rachel Zegler.

Background
María is a fiercely independent 18-year-old girl who desires to have a life of her own away from the harshness of New York City's gentrification. She is shown to be slightly subservient to her brother Bernardo, but upon meeting Tony aims to make her own decisions. She is proud of her Puerto Rican heritage, but wants to embrace her home in America. María despises the violence that her brother takes part in and is motivated to escape such debauchery with Tony; unaware of the bleak conclusion that awaits him.

Trivia

 * Prior to Rachel Zegler portraying María, she was played by seven actresses. When the original Broadway show opened back in 1957, María was portrayed by Carol Lawrence and then by Marlys Watters when the show opened on the West End the year after. In the 1961 film adaptation, Natalie Wood portrayed her with her singing dubbed over by Marni Nixon. In the 1980 Broadway revival, she was played by Josie de Guzman, Josefina Scaglione in the 2009 revival, and then by Shereen Pimentel in the 2020 revival.