FeaturesAriana DeBose on the joy and pain of playing Anita in ‘West Side Story’Posted on December 11, 2021 What makes Anita of “West Side Story” so iconic? “She’s a beacon of self-respect and agency. She speaks her mind. Those kinds of characters were typically described as ‘difficult women,’” says Ariana DeBose. You get the sense that playing the part came somewhat easily for her. “It wasn’t a stretch,” says the actress, flashing the smile that dazzled Keegan-Michael Key’s character in “Schmigadoon!,” and Jo Ellen Pellman’s Emma in “The Prom.”
