Afro-Latina Performer Ariana DeBose Wins BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress

Afro-Latina queer performer Ariana DeBose was the winner of the British Film Institute Film Award, BAFTA, for her role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of the American musical West Side Story. DeBose has also won the Best Supporting Actress awards in the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and Critics’ Choice Awards, which makes her the frontrunner to win the Oscar in this category.

Born in North Carolina of Puerto Rican descend, Ariana DeBose plays the role of Anita, which gave Rita Moreno her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1962.

In her acceptance speech, DeBose said her BAFTA win was 'the wildest ride of my life' but she was 'thrilled' to see diversity at the British Awards ceremony. “'I speak dance better than I speak English. It's not every day you get to bring to life a character using all of these disciplines,” she said. DeBose was also nominated for this year's BAFTA Rising Star award, which went to Lashana Lynch of No Time To Die.

 
 




 
 
 
NYSCA Logo - Black.3.png
 

Cinema Tropical's programs are made possible with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts.
They are also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
in partnership with the City Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.