10 THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT
STAGE star Ariana DeBose had big shoes to fill as Anita in director Steven Spielberg’s film reboot of West Side Story. But much like Oscar winner Rita Moreno — the silver screen’s original Anita — Ariana has earned critical acclaim for the demanding role. Here are ten things you don’t know about the 31-year-old North Carolina native.
1 She started taking tap, jazz and ballet dance classes at age three.
2 At 15, she won a dance competition, which included a $15,000 prize and shakes and smoothies for life from a national ice cream chain.
3 She once aspired to be a politician because “I like people and I like to argue — and I like to help others.”
4 She left Western Carolina University after three months and moved to New York City to pursue an entertainment career.
5 As a selfadmitted “starving artist,” she used her ice cream shop prize to survive her lean days while living in the Big Apple.
6 She appeared on So You Think You Can Dance at age 18 but was quickly voted off — and says the public rejection helped her develop a thick skin.
7 In 2018, she starred as Disco Donna in Broadway’s Summer: The Donna Summer Musical — and earned a Tony Award nomination.
8 She was getting a manicure when Spielberg called to offer her the part in West Side Story.
9 She owns two cats, Freddy and Izzy, who are named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass and dancer Isadora Duncan.
10 She admires actress Judith Light for both her professional accomplishments and social activism.