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Ariana DeBose is a name you should expect to see a lot in the coming months. As we enter awards season and important movies are released on an almost weekly basis, none are as big and awaited as “West Side Story.” The Steven Spielberg reimagining is his first musical. Ariana DeBose’s turn as Anita, the role made iconic by Rita Moreno, should be one of the most thrilling parts about it.
DeBose is a seasoned Broadway actress, who, over the past years has become quite a presence in Hollywood. She’s had roles in “Bring It On: The Musical” and earned her first Tony nomination for her work in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.” She was also one of “Hamilton‘s” first cast members, kicking off the project from its off-Broadway beginnings.
DeBose then crept into the small screen. She starred in Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom,” with the likes of Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and James Corden, and was cast in “Schmigadoon!” the Apple TV musical series alongside Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key. Despite her formidable experience, nothing is as big as her role in “West Side Story,” not only due to the scale of the project but due to the legacy of the role of Anita.
In 1961, when the original “West Side Story” was released, Rita Moreno, who played Anita, became the first Hispanic woman to win an Academy Award. “She is a beautiful Anita in the movie,” said Moreno of DeBose’s work in a People Magazine sneak peek of an interview with NBC’s Nightly News with Lester Holt. “It was so bizarre because suddenly I was playing another role and she was playing Anita.”
When speaking about Moreno’s work, DeBose mentioned how important her influence was for herself, a Latina, as well as the theater community. “She means a lot to me. She means a lot to the Puerto Rican community, to the Latino community at large, and to the entertainment industry at large,” she said.
While an admirer of Moreno’s work and her performance as Anita, DeBose wanted to make the character of Anita her own, and to not do a riff of Moreno’s Anita. “I was very adamant that whatever interpretation I delivered for this performance was massively different,” said DeBose. “But by virtue of being a black woman that makes it a different portrayal.” When talking about her relationship with Moreno and any advice that she provided for her, DeBose said that Moreno encouraged her to do her own thing. “She said, ‘I think there’s more power in a different delivery.’ I took the note, it was a good note.’”
“West Side Story” will be released in theaters this December 10th and has earned rave reviews, with many calling it Spielberg’s best and most inspired work in years. If you’ve seen any of his movies, you know that that is high praise.