Biography
Ariana DeBose is an American actress. She was born on 25 January 1991 in Wilmington, North Carolina. She began her career as a dancer and competed on the sixth season of So You Think You Can Dance in 2009. She made her Broadway debut in Bring It On: The Musical (2011) and later appeared in productions including Hamilton (2015).
DeBose gained wider recognition for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story (2021). For the performance she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award. Her other film credits include The Prom (2020), Argylle (2024) as Keira, Wish (2023) voicing Asha, and Kraven the Hunter (2024) as Calypso Ezili. She appears as Lucy Farinelli-Watson in the series Scarpetta (2026). She has hosted the Tony Awards and received a Tony Award nomination for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (2018).
