Director Steven Spielberg hypes Ariana DeBose's performance as Anita in his latest film, West Side Story. This adaptation of the 1957 stage musical, which already spawned a beloved film version in 1961, is the Hollywood icon's first foray into the musical genre. After having been delayed a year due to the pandemic, West Side Story will finally hit theaters this Friday, December 10.
Adopting the structure of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the New York City-set West Side Story depicts two star-crossed lovers, María (Rachel Zegler) and Tony (Ansel Elgort), who come from opposite sides of the racially divided Sharks and Jets gangs. The role of Anita is crucial in this formulation, functioning as a trusted ear for María while also being the girlfriend of her older brother and Sharks leader Bernardo (David Alvarez), and she is written as a strong supporting part with a few of the film's most memorable songs. Rita Moreno, who played the role in the 1961 adaptation, even took home an Oscar for her performance.
And, if you ask Spielberg, DeBose is primed to continue that legacy. In a video shared by the official West Side Story Twitter account, the prolific filmmaker reveals that she was one of hundreds who answered the open casting call for the role of Anita. Though he was drawn to her obvious charisma, he says, she was still required to complete separate auditions for dancing, singing, and line reading, all of which she passed with flying colors. Spielberg remembers having an inkling for how DeBose's presence would translate on camera, but ended up having his expectations blown out of the water. Check out the video below:
Unlike Zegler, who the West Side Story team discovered while she was still in high school, DeBose joined the film with both some screen- and Broadway credits, including as part of the ensemble in the original run of Hamilton. She has so far leaned into her singing and dancing ability in making the shift to Hollywood, having played the closeted cheerleader girlfriend Alyssa in Ryan Murphy's The Prom and scoring a lead role as the schoolmarm Emma Tate in the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon! She does however have the spy film Argylle, from Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn, on deck, which will pair her with a star-studded ensemble cast.
If Spielberg is right about the caliber of her performance, DeBose could soon see her Hollywood stock skyrocket. West Side Story earned rave early reviews after its New York premiere, with many critics highlighting her performance as a clear standout and potential Oscar contender. It remains to be seen just how popular Spielberg's latest will be with the Academy, but should there be a strong desire to honor the film in some way, a Best Supporting Actress statuette seems not to be out of the question.
Source: West Side Story
