With Rachel Zegler set to make her Broadway debut later this year, she becomes just the latest celebrity to see their wildest dreams come true. So here are 15 performers, including Rachel, who manifested major career achievements:
1. In 2016, Rachel Zegler tweeted, "ok but when can i be on broadway."
ok but when can i be on broadway
— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) March 24, 2016
Well, the answer is in 2024. On Tuesday, Rachel Zegler and Heartstopper star Kit Connorannounced they're making their Broadway debuts, starring in a revival of Romeo + Juliet. The show is set to open this fall and feature music from Jack Antonoff.
2.For her forthcoming third studio album, Radical Optimism, Dua Lipa is working with Kevin Parker, known for his music project Tame Impala.
As she told Time in a new interview this month, she began "making notes" about her third album years ago while working on her first record, and one of her plans was to eventually work with Kevin. "It's mad to think about, but I remember speaking to my close friend and A&R Joe [Kentish], 'Maybe album three, I could work with [Tame Impala's] Kevin Parker,' and he was like, 'Alright, hold your horses, let's take baby steps,'" she told the publication.
3.In 2011, Ariana Grande reportedly tweeted, "Loved seeing Wicked again... amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life! #DreamRole." She also said in a 2013 interview on KiddNation that she "for sure" would want to play Glinda among the Wicked characters.
Ari's dream came true. She's starring as Glinda in the two-part film adaption of the hit musical alongside Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The first film will hit theaters on Nov. 27, and the second follows a year later.
4. For SZA, a career goal was appearing on Sesame Street, which she tweeted about in 2017.
5.In 2009, a 10-year-old Sabrina Carpenter said online that she "was trying to enter a Taylor Swift karaoke contest to win tickets and a chance to meet her but they said I had to be 13 : (."
Sabrina shared that old post on Instagram in February while reflecting on performing Taylor's song "White Horse" alongside the singer during The Eras Tour in Sydney, where Sabrina was the opening act.
6.In an episode of Hannah Montana, Lilly (Emily Osment) reads a make-believe Record of the Year Grammy speech written by Miley (aka Miley Cyrus), who performs under the alter ego Hannah Montana.
The real-life Miley won Record of the Year in February for her song "Flowers." This came on the heels of winning her first Grammy ever earlier in the ceremony, Best Pop Solo Performance, also for "Flowers." Here's what Miley said while picking up Record of the Year:
7.Tyla's career is on a major rise, thanks in part to the success of her song "Water." She dropped the track in July 2023, and it really took off. "Water" hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February, and it won Best African Music Performance at the Grammys this year.
Turns out Tyla could tell the song would be a hit before it became one. “I had a dream that the song was going to blow up,” she told Vogue in February while reflecting on the song's success. “And it ended up happening—so maybe I have super powers.”
8. In 2020, Reneé Rapp tweeted about Saturday Night Live, noting she wanted to host the show. "But I also want to be the musical guest," she said in a follow-up tweet. And in another, she said, "I'll shake my ass whatever it takes."
His dream came true in December 2023, when he performed in an episode hosted by Emma Stone
10.Olivia Rodrigo is a three-time Grammy-winning musician with three No. 1 songs and a legion of fans called Livies. Turns out Olivia has longed for pop superstardom since she was a child.
In December 2023, Olivia revealed on The Tonight Show that her sixth birthday party was pop star-themed. "I really manifested this hard," she said. "There was not an audience, no one was watching but I just had all of my kindergarten friends and we were just singing the Jonas Brothers. We were really into it."
11.In 2022, Beanie Feldstein starred as Fanny Brice in the revival of Funny Girl, which originally opened on Broadway in 1954.
As she told Jimmy Fallon in 2021, it was a full-circle moment as the musical was her birthday party theme when she turned three. "I feel like I should teach a class in manifesting, but I don't know what I did," she said. "I wouldn't know what to teach."
12.Lea Michele notably replaced Beanie in Funny Girl later in 2022.
Playing Fanny Brice has long been a well-known goal for the actor. On Glee, Lea's character Rachel Berry performed many of the musical's songs throughout the show's run. Rachel even took over the role on Broadway from another actor in the final season. In 2017, Lea said on Watch What Happens Live that she and Glee creator Ryan Murphy were working on a Broadway revival. She said then, "I feel really ready to do it now, so maybe we could do it soon." While the version with Ryan didn't pan out, Lea would eventually take on the role some five years later.
13.Though Brandi Carlile has been a successful musician since the 2000s, it would take years before she got to be a musical guest on Saturday Night Live.
“Every time an album comes out and I don’t get to do Saturday Night Live, I’m always so sad,” Brandi told Vanity Fair in 2021, ahead of her first time as a musical guest. She appeared in an episode hosted by Jason Sudeikis. “But here I am, right? And I can’t imagine a better time to play it. I feel really, really ready. I feel like I have the right songs, the right amount of confidence, the right amount of chill, like I can do this without freaking out and screwing it up, like I would’ve in my twenties."
14.In 2021, the Twitter account for VH1's Love & Hip Hop shared Megan Thee Stallion's old audition video for the show. In the video, Megan said, "Megan Thee Stallion is just going to become that household name. [When] you're talking about the popping rappers, like I'm going to definitely be in that conversation.
The three-time Grammy-winning rapper with three No. 1 songs knew her power early on, and that's a lesson for us all!
15.Finally, in 2020, Doja Cat remixed her hit song "Say So" with a feature from Nicki Minaj. The remix was so popular it went No. 1 later that year.
In 2020, Doja told Nick Cannon on his radio show that the collaboration was a long time coming, noting that she used to joke around with her fans by ending sentences saying the phrase, "featuring Nicki Minaj." "That was so long ago, and then it happened," Doja said. "I feel like I manifested it or something."
