Ariana DeBose

Biography

Ariana DeBose was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. She is an actress and director, known for West Side Story (2021), Hamilton (2020) and The Prom (2020).

DeBose made her television debut competing on So You Think You Can Dance in 2009. She then made her Broadway debut in the musical Bring It On: The Musical in 2011 and appeared in further Broadway roles in Motown: The Musical in 2013 and Pippin in 2014. She also appeared as The Bullet in the original cast of Hamilton from 2015 to 2016 and as Jane in A Bronx Tale from 2016 to 2017. In 2018, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Donna Summer in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

DeBose also appeared in the filmed stage recording of Hamilton, which was released in 2020 on Disney+. She played Alyssa Greene in Netflix’s The Prom (2020) and Emma in the Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon! (2021). DeBose garnered widespread recognition and critical praise with her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of West Side Story (2021), earning her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

DeBose was born on January 25, 1991, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Her mother, Gina DeBose, is an 8th-grade teacher. DeBose trained in dance at CC & Co. Dance Complex in Raleigh. DeBose has stated that her father is Puerto Rican and her mother is white and she also has African-American and Italian ancestry.

DeBose identifies as queer and came out to her grandparents in 2015.

In December 2020, DeBose and Jo Ellen Pellman launched the Unruly Hearts Initiative. The initiative was created to help young people connect with organizations and charities that advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

DeBose is in a relationship with costume designer and professor Sue Makkoo. The pair met while working on Summer: The Donna Summer Musical in 2017. Previously, DeBose was in a romantic relationship with theater props master Jill Johnson. The pair met while both were working on the musical Hamilton.