Personal details
- Birth Date: 1991-01-25
- Height: 5′ 4¼″ (1.63 m)
- Birth Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- Parents: Gina DeBose
- Professions: Actress, Director, Writer
Ariana DeBose? Oh, she’s basically everywhere right now. She’s got this triple-threat energy—acting, singing, dancing, you name it. People probably first spotted her way back on So You Think You Can Dance, top 20, not bad for a TV debut, right? Then she just snowballed from there: Broadway, big lights, big productions like Bring It On, Motown, and Pippin. And let’s not pretend Hamilton didn’t just blow everything up—she played The Bullet, which sounds mysterious but was actually a super cool, important role if you know the show. She didn’t just hang around in the ensemble, either. Ariana went on to be Donna Summer in that jukebox musical about the disco queen herself, and she even snagged a Tony nod for it. Not too shabby. Hosting the Tony Awards in 2022? Yeah, she did that too, just casually. But if you didn’t catch her on stage, maybe you saw her in The Prom on Netflix, or that quirky musical comedy Schmigadoon! on Apple TV+. Still, if there’s one thing everyone knows her for, it’s West Side Story. Steven Spielberg cast her as Anita, and she just absolutely owned it. Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe—the whole award circuit. And she made history while she was at it: first queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar. Basically, if there’s a stage or a screen, Ariana’s probably already conquered it.
Man, talk about coming full circle. In 2022, Ariana DeBose bagged the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, thanks to her electric take on Anita in West Side Story (2021). Now, here’s the wild part—Rita Moreno snagged that exact same award for playing Anita in the OG West Side Story back in 1961, literally six decades earlier. It’s not every day you see two powerhouse women nailing the same role and both walking away with gold statues. Anita’s character, honestly, is just built different—fiery, passionate, that whole magnetic energy that kinda steals the show, even when she’s not center stage. DeBose really brought something new, but you could feel Moreno’s legacy echoing through every dance step and sharp comeback. It’s like the role itself is a rite of passage, and both women crushed it in their own era. Seriously, how often does Hollywood serve up that kind of poetic symmetry? Not often at all.
January 25, 1991
5′ 4¼″ (1.63 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Gina DeBose and Surekha
34 years old