Los Angeles, Nov 20 (IANS): 'West Side Story' director Steven Spielberg and actress Rachel Zegler and joked about their lack of experience as she makes her big screen debut in his first musical movie.

She told Total Film magazine: "I'm pretty sure the only musical-esque thing he's done is 'Anything Goes' in 'Temple of Doom'! Whenever we would read things from sceptics - about Spielberg doing a musical - I'm like, 'That's one of the most incredible film openings ever!'

"But we definitely had conversations. I had never done a film before. And he'd never done a musical before. We would make jokes that we were going to teach each other how it's done!"

Zegler found stepping on set for her first movie role a "terrifying experience", reports femalefirst.co.uk.

However, seeing the movie as a whole has made her realise the finished product is "pretty darn awesome".

She added: "I meant, it was absolutely a terrifying experience for me in the moment. But I've seen the finished product now. And I'm not scared anymore, which is great. That's a huge compliment to Steven. We just did the best we could and the best we could is pretty darn awesome."