Ariana DeBose Makes History With Her Oscars Win

60 years after Rita Moreno won Best Supporting Actress for playing Anita in West Side Story, Ariana DeBose did the same tonight. The two became the first pair of actresses to win an Academy Award for playing the same role in different movies, and DeBose became only the second Latina to ever win an acting Oscar—the first being Moreno.

"Yikes!" she began her speech, happily overcome with emotion. "What is this!"

"Now you see why Anita says, I want to be in America because even in this weary world we live in, dreams do come true. And that's really a heartening thing right now." She also shouted out West Side Story's director, saying, "Thank you Steven Spielberg. You’re stuck with me now!"

DeBose, a queer woman of color, becomes the first openly queer actor to win an acting Oscar. In her speech, she declared for queer women of color actors, "there is indeed a place for us," which received a standing ovation from the audience.

Rita Moreno sat in the audience, beaming with pride as the torch has been officially passed. "The divine inspiration that is Rita Moreno. I'm so grateful your Anita paved the way for thousands of Anitas like me," DeBose said in her acceptance speech.

There are only two other pairs of actors who have won Oscars for playing the same role: Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who played Vito Corleone in The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II, respectively, and Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix for playing the Joker in The Dark Night and Joker. However, both Brando and De Niro and Ledger and Phoneix won in different categories—each pair won in Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

DeBose and Moreno are not only the first women to achieve this accomplishment—but the first performers of color, and the first pair to win for the same role in the same category.

DeBose accepted her first Oscar wearing a red hot Valentine Haute Couture pantsuit with a floor-length cape, along with a diamond necklace and bracelet by De Beers.

You Might Also Like

• 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion

• What Your Favorite Champagne Brand Says About You

• Beauty Gurus Share Their Makeup Secrets for Older Women