Ariana DeBose (born January 25, 1991 in Wilmington, North Carolina) is an American actress, singer, and dancer.
DeBose started her career on the stage, accruing ensemble credits as part of the Broadway ensembles of Bring It On, Motown: The Musical and Hamilton. She's lent this theater background to film adaptations of stage musicals such as The Prom and Steven Spielberg's West Side Story.
She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Anita in West Side Story. The win made her the first openly LGBTQ actor of color to win an Academy Award (she has been out as queer since around 2015) and the third actor to win an Academy Award for playing a character previously played by someone else (in this case, Rita Moreno in the 1961 West Side Story) who had also won an Academy Award for playing that role, and the first female actor to do so.note
Filmography:
- The Prom (2020) as Alyssa Greene
- Schmigadoon! (2021-) as Emma Tate (season 1), Emcee (season 2)
- West Side Story (2021) as Anita Palacio
- Westworld (2022) as Maya
- Wish (2023) as Asha
- Once Upon a Studio (2023)
- I.S.S. (2024) as Dr. Kira Foster
- Argylle (2024) as Keira
- Kraven the Hunter (2024) as Calypso
Selected stage credits:
- Bring It On (2011-2012) as Nautica
- Motown The Musical (2013) — Ensemble, Mary Wilson
- Hamilton (2015) — Ensemble/"The Bullet", also in the filmed version released in 2020 on Disney+
- A Bronx Tale (2016) as Jane
- Summer The Donna Summer Musical (2017-2018) as Disco Donna
Tropes & Trivia in her works:
- Let's Duet: She sang a duet, "Electric Energy", with Boy George for the soundtrack of Argylle (in which she has a role).
