Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose in ‘West Side Story’


“Hello, birthday queen,” Ariana DeBose said and greeted Rita Moreno, who is new to “West Side Story,” and specifically 90-year-old.

It was Sunday afternoon, and DeBose, 30, in his bed at his Upper East Side home, propped up on pillows, with rescue cats Isadora Duncan and Frederick Douglass parading on the occasional Zoom call. Moreno was snuggling across the country at his home in Berkeley, California, in a red sweater and mega jewels, camera-ready above his waist, but sneaking below in pink pajamas and fluffy slipper socks. How were many birthday celebrations? “I am happy to report that they are eternal,” he said. “I feel queenly and noble.”

Arriving in New York from Puerto Rico in 1936, Moreno won a famous Oscar—the first Latina to do so—for portraying Anita in 1961’s “West Side Story.” DeBose, who grew up in North Carolina and describes herself as Afro-Latina, is receiving critical acclaim and awards for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s new version.

In a video interview, they talked about identity, fighting stereotypes, and taking notes from original songwriter Stephen Sondheim. Both dropped a curse or two; songs and admiration poured out. “I know this movie is going to get an Oscar in many ways,” Moreno said. These are edited excerpts from the speech.

Ariana, you said that your identity is important in what you bring to the role. How did you discuss this with the creative team?

DeBOSE It was one of the first things I grew up with. My first choice. I didn’t know Steven would be there and I decided to do what I had to do, to represent myself and what I had to offer. Towards the end, he asked if there was anything else he should know, and I said, ‘If you’re not interested in discovering your Afro-Latin identity and finding ways to include it or talk about it, you probably should’. don’t hire me. I didn’t want to feel like I was checking a box for them. This is a real lived experience and is not something we talk about often. In fact, until my adulthood, I could really understand that you could be Black and Puerto Rican – and my mother is white. You can be all of these. And I’m queer, so there’s a lot going on there. Either I was very determined that we would discover it, or you shouldn’t be on the same path as I was.

While we were filming, Steven said, “Does that really sound authentic to you? And if it isn’t, we should change it. I can answer from my own perspective, of course, but I didn’t grow up in 1957. They brought the people of San Juan Hill to talk to us during that time. The Irishman who lived on the blocks at the time.” There was a gang member, Puerto Ricans, and Rita and I didn’t talk much about the character, but I found it really helpful to hear about his experiences.

Did you mention the legacy of playing Anita?

MORENO I didn’t. He had a very conscious reason. I knew how vulnerable Ariana was. I wanted him to be absolutely sure that I wasn’t imposing anything on him. As a good stewardess, I decided to keep some of these thoughts to myself.

He knew the enormity of it. I could see that she was a very bright young woman, and there wasn’t much I could say would help her other than being self-serving. I tried very, very hard to comfort her and to be as fair as I could about any jealousy I might feel – and by the way, I did. I mean, my brain would be dead if I didn’t.

Ariana, you said you had a mini panic attack when you first met Rita on the shoot. How did you heal?

DeBOSE I’m still recovering. I honestly didn’t expect to be in the same room as him. Then the moment came and I said, oh, my God.

MORENO He looked like a little deer in the headlights. I decided to take him to lunch and then I realized how nervous he was. I thought I should really do my best to put him at ease. What I’m saying is, be your own Anita. Because I didn’t know her well at the time, I hadn’t realized that she could only be her Anita.

What’s your answer the critics say Shouldn’t the movie ever be revived because it raises clichés, or is it not contemporary in origin?

MORENO It does not reveal stereotypes. this bull [expletive]pure and unadulterated bull [expletive].

When I first watched the movie, I was very impressed. I started crying in the mambo at the gym [scene]. I was sitting next to my daughter and I said, “Mom, why are you crying? That’s very gratifying.” I said because Steven got it right. These shots were incredible and got the soul of what musical numbers are all about.

DeBOSE That’s why we’re retelling the classics. What makes them classics is that they can be re-told and re-imagined. You give things historical context in order to better understand the text, to make it concrete.

MORENO Tony Kushner is here [the screenwriter] He’s getting in. It brought in the social elements of something that wasn’t even covered in the original. This does not reduce the initial effort. It’s still an iconic movie. But on the other hand, it amazes me that it’s so meatless. [original] There were characters. I don’t think this is intentional. i think they are like that [the original creators] I saw.

What was it like having Sondheim around?

DeBOSE He was there, but I didn’t actually have much one-on-one interaction with him. They sent notes via Steven Spielberg – SS2, as he lovingly proclaimed himself. Sondheim was SS1 and Spielberg was SS2. I mean, what about Jeanine? [Tesori, the supervising vocal producer] or SS2 would come and we would chat and then go again and continue until SS1 was happy.

He talked about color. I remember when we recorded the Anita part of the movie. [“Tonight”] Quintet was saying listen to this. [imitating spiraling music]. That’s the color you’re looking for and then let the vocals fly.

MORENO And this [singing]“Anita will kick her tonight…”

DeBOSE Yeah. The last half was like going for something completely different. He spoke to many of us about self-esteem: Take ownership of your voice. Which, I’ll be honest, has never been my problem – being confident. It was just to find the right one because this vocal can go in so many different directions. What color am I singing here? I believe I went for magenta.

The scene where Anita goes to Valentina’s shop and is attacked by the Jets is one of the most emotional moments in the movie. It’s obviously very dark and a lot of different themes emerge – gender, race, class. How did you talk about it or prepare for it?

DeBOSE There was a rehearsal day and we had an intimacy coordinator there.

MORENO What the hell is that? I’ve never heard of this before. Fascinating for me.

DeBOSE Someone who makes sure we are all comfortable with what’s going on.

MORENO So you don’t touch certain places?

DeBOSE Exactly. You do not touch certain parts of the body unless agreed upon. It really helped as the Jet boys were so nervous having to do this. We had been working together for a very long time at that point – there was a real love between us and they were all too afraid of hurting me. I was like, I’m fine. Remember, I am not Ariana, I am Anita right now. But I was so grateful for this rehearsal because it set the limits for all of us. In the end it was a really safe psychological experience. I admit, this experience did not leave me. I don’t watch that scene while watching the movie. I can hear it but actually physically watching it makes me a little sick.

MORENO This is very sad.

DeBOSE It’s very intense because you have so many bodies on you that can hurt you, and even though it’s a simulated thing, your body doesn’t actually know the difference.

MORENO And you know? It’s not just your body. Your brain and your heart — because that’s what made me burst into hysterical tears while filming the scene, and they had to stop filming because I couldn’t stop crying. Wounds never really heal.

DeBOSE I think because this is a musical, people sometimes don’t realize the depth of the material. And whether this character is Rita’s incarnation or my incarnation, this is [expletive] becomes true. It is difficult to track the amount of grief and the attack on his person. Performance is even harder.

I have so much respect for anyone who plays this role, because until you’re really inside – and outside – you don’t realize how far you have to go to create a moment with this woman.

MORENO He is very attractive; he is funny. He has ideas he’s not afraid to voice. All of these make a fool of you. You still have to play the wounds and the insults.

DeBOSE And if it doesn’t bother you as a viewer, I would say you should go and analyze some things for yourself.

What do you think you learned from playing Anita and what she represents?

MORENO For me it was a revelation because I noticed it in the middle of the road. [first] The movie in which I found my role model at the age of 28 was Anita. I have never played a Spanish woman who has this kind of dignity and self-respect and is fearless about expressing what she has to express.

DeBOSE He taught me a lot about forgiveness. You take everything personally in this industry, but choosing to forgive is the healthier way to go. And this is not an easy road. Did I mean me? I would knock on the door [expletive] Except for Maria. This is the only moment in the piece, whether on stage or in the movie – I don’t know if that’s really going to happen in the world. Because it is very difficult to make that choice when you are in that moment of grief.

MORENO It is not just forgiveness that expresses how important a role love plays in one’s life. “When love comes so strong, there is no right or wrong.”

DeBOSE This line—that’s what the whole moment is about. Regardless, you can be very angry with someone and still love them very deeply. Love does not die. It can transform. It can change shapes. But there is always love.



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