Ariana Debose
THE HAMILTON ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER IS NOW STARRING IN MAJOR MOVIE MUSICALS FOR RYAN MURPHY AND STEVEN SPIELBERG
ON THE MOMENT THAT HOOKED HER INTO ACTING
“I think I was six years old. I believe I was performing a number where I was supposed to be a genie, and I really liked it when everyone clapped. I started out very focused on dance, but my goal was to be very versatile. You need to be able to sing, dance, act, breathe fire and fly. And rollerskate! So when I moved to New York at 18, I made it my goal to train in any way possible, whether that was watching Youtube videos or bartering for dance classes.”
ON GETTING HER BIG BREAK
“The first day that I arrived in New York City, I auditioned to be a dancer on [longrunning daytime soap opera] One Life To Live, [for] a series of musical episodes. I actually had a sprained ankle. But I had something to prove so I wrapped it up in an Ace bandage, put a big old Nike on and went in and auditioned and got the job. I took that as a sign of like, ‘Okay, maybe don’t do that again but it’s gonna work out.’”
ON PLAYING ‘THE BULLET’ IN HAMILTON’S ORIGINAL CAST
“I knew the show was special: I wanted to be a part of it because I thought it had the ability to change the way we look at musical theatre. The Bullet was a really good secret for a long time, but when the show was released on Disney+, it took off. She’s a presence only. I love that because I frequently say I speak dance better than I speak English.”
ON HER ROLE IN RYAN MURPHY’S FILM ADAPTATION OF THE PROM
“I saw the show on Broadway three times and I was very taken with Isabelle Mccalla’s portrayal of Alyssa Greene. I identify as LGBTQ, and it meant a lot to me to see a beautiful woman of colour playing that on a Broadway stage. At the time, I knew that Ryan Murphy had secured the rights. I remember saying a little prayer, like, ‘I’d love to be a part of that.’ And crazy manifestation, here I am!”
ON REFUSING TO AUDITION FOR STEVEN SPIELBERG FOR WEST SIDE STORY
“I ran away from that job [playing the role of Anita] so many times, I was very afraid of it. The casting director and my agent at the time practically had to push me into the door. For my initial audition, I didn’t realise that Señor Spielberg was going to be in the room. I was playing Donna Summer on Broadway at the time, leading a show, and I had decided that I was not going to read. So I had to walk into a room and tell Steven bloody Spielberg that I wasn’t reading for him. Thinking back now, that’s very Anita. So it worked out.”
THE PROM IS ON NETFLIX NOW