Rachel Zegler receives "really alarming" online hate

Rachel told i-D magazine: "It's interesting. It's really alarming at times."

Despite the vile abuse she has suffered, the star refuses to adopt a "victim mindset".

Zegler, who is currently starring in the revival of the musical Evita on London's West End, explained: "I think a victim mindset is a choice, and I don't choose it.

"I also don't choose nastiness in the face of it. I don't choose negativity in the face of it. I choose positivity and light and happiness. And I do believe at times, happiness is absolutely a choice, and every day I wake up and I think I'm very lucky to live the life I live."

Rachel explained that she went back to her family home in New Jersey at the height of the backlash and was grateful for both her psychiatrist and medication.

The West Side Story star said: "My f****** psychiatrist has seen me through all of it. (They told me), 'What you're going through isn't normal.'

"That sentence did such wonders for me in multiple situations in my life.

"(And the meds were) truly a game changer, because I just wasn't functioning. And I wanted to function in a way that made me feel confident in the way I was moving through the world."

Zegler's X post in support of Palestine last year sparked a backlash but the star is willing to voice her opinion on the conflict in Gaza even if it has a detrimental impact on her career.

She said: "There are obviously things that are at stake by being outspoken, but nothing is worth innocent lives.

"My heart doesn't have a fence around it, and if that is considered my downfall? There are worse things."

Rachel added: "My compassion has no boundaries, is really what it is, and my support for one does not denounce any others. That's always been at the core of who I am as a person. It's the way I was raised."