Why Starring in "The Prom" Was "Incredibly Cathartic" for Ariana DeBose
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Ariana DeBose stars as Alyssa Greene in Ryan Murphy's "icon-packed" adaptation of the musical The Prom, along with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and more.
The 29-year-old actress also played the Bullet in Hamilton on Disney+, and she will be Anita in the upcoming West Side Story movie.
There's a song in The Prom that's completely devoted to the healing powers of live theater. "We look to you / As strange as it seems / When reality goes to scary new extremes," Keegan-Michael Key sings in The Prom's movie adaptation, playing a Broadway-loving high school principal.
Reality certainly went to "scary new extremes" in 2020—but audiences haven't been able to escape into live theater, which has been deemed unsafe in the pandemic. By the time The Prom landed on Netflix in December, Broadway had been shuttered for eight months.
Ironically, it's amid this drought that Broadway star Ariana DeBose, 29, is having her moment on a national scale. DeBose stars as Alyssa Greene in The Prom, a cheerleader who grapples with coming out and disappointing her rigid mother, played by Kerry Washington. When Hamilton hit Disney+ in July, audiences (virtually) applauded DeBose's turn as the human embodiment of the bullet that killed Alexander Hamilton. Come 2021, DeBose will surely stun as Anita in Steven Spielberg's highly- anticipated West Side Story remake. She'll also appear in Schmigadoon, an upcoming AppleTV+ parody of the Scotland-set fantasy Brigadoon.
With these musicals, DeBose—who was in Broadway's Bring it On, Motown: The Musical, Pippin, A Bronx Tale, and The Donna Summer Musical— is bringing the magic of the Great White Way to people's homes. Sure, movie musicals are not quite the experience that Michael Potts described in the Prom number. But people need an escape more than ever, and DeBose is giving us that.
DeBose spoke to OprahMag.com about her breakout year, and why starring in the The Prom—an ode to queer acceptance—was cathartic. DeBose, who identifies as queer, felt ashamed when she danced with a girl at her own prom. Now, she's starring in a musical that celebrates everything she is—and as her Instagram shows, it's gotten her a billboard over Broadway.
How will you remember 2020, the year you became a film star?
Isn't that insane? It's crazy to me when I think about it. I will always remember 2020 for the connections that I was able to make. In particular, with the fans. With people who have enjoyed my work. Hamilton was a surprise. It was a surprise that it was released and a surprise to have so many folks connect with my performance. That was the beginning of the whirlwind that was 2020 for me. Despite the pandemic and being in a lockdown, I was able to find some rewarding connections. I'm so used to walking out a stage door and having the opportunity to hear from people and that face-to-face connection. I've taken solace in our virtual connection.
People were able to engage with your Hamilton performance on a new level, thanks to streaming. Do you see a virtue in the movie musical?
We're seeing a rise in demand for the movie musical. Dear Evan Hansen is being made. There's the Wicked musical, West Side Story. When society goes through something really challenging, we see a rise in the need for musicals. They allow us to heal. Live performance and theater have allowed people to do that in person—and movie musicals allow people to continue to do that in their own homes. The Prom has been a balm to the soul for so many people—and families. I hear from young people who connect to the story and from parents, as well.
I heard Meryl Streep, your Prom co-star, congratulated you on getting cast in West Side Story.
She did. I was sweating. I was speechless. I probably said the wrong thing—like, Oh, thanks Queen. She was so supportive. It was one of the first interactions we had. I was honored to be in her orbit.
You were in the orbit of so many icons in The Prom.
Absolutely. To play in the playground with Kegan-Michael Key, who is a king of comedy to me. And Nicole Kidman. Moulin Rouge is part of the reason I love the movie musical genre. Kerry Washington, who is another chameleon—to have her as a scene partner is something I never expected. Then to really learn from her and to come out of the film with a mentor, a friend, and a sister, is something I never expected.
Your character's final scene with Kerry is captivating. Part of the intensity is because the coming out scene is so public—it takes place at the prom itself. Similarly, throughout interviews, you've had to address your sexuality publicly. What has negotiating the line between public and private been like?
That's been the challenge of this experience, to be very candid about it. Discovering the fine line between your personal life and visibility. What can you save for you? For me, sharing my thoughts and views about the journey of identity and journey of discovering my sexuality—I recently said in a Glamour UK interview, I'm never finished coming out. My journey with sexuality and identity will be lifelong one. That's what makes it so thrilling. That's the grand experience of life.
Specifically, to answer your question, it's challenging. I'm still figuring out what my limits are. How to let people in and protect my own identity. Actors, most of us, are natural givers and empaths. When you're giving so much of yourself away in your line of work, you have to protect you.
You described feeling shame while dancing with another girl at your prom. Was this movie healing?
It was incredibly cathartic. It was truly a full circle moment, and it was one I didn't know I needed until I got to the moment. I think humans inevitably believe we have healed from our traumas, and then you find yourself realizing, Oh, no, these little wounds are still there. They're still sensitive. That was one of those moments for me. It was a moment of realization and healing. I'm much better for having had my initial prom experience and my Prom film experience.
You and your co-star Jo Ellen Pellman launched the Unruly Hearts Initiative to support LGBTQ youth. Can you tell me more about that?
Jo Ellen and I came up with the idea to start an initiative called the Unruly Hearsts Initiative, named after the anthem of the film. Ultimately what we want to do is create a space where those young people—or anyone who is still in the discovery portion of their journey with their identity—to go and find resources from organizations that we know and love, and are already doing great work. We also wanted to create a space that would point parents in the right direction as well.
We believe in using the film's platform to help others. The whole point of storytelling and having a platform, I think, is to be of service to others. This is our first step.
West Side Story is on its way. What can fans of the original expect from the reboot?
I'm really excited about the film's possibility of opening people's hearts and minds to what a new generation of Latinx talent presents as. I think Steven (Spielberg) and his team took every effort to tell this story in the most authentic way possible. That in itself is a huge deal. To tell West Side Story with Latinx faces for today's audience. Tony Kushner has adapted the screenplay in order to reflect the times according to what was really going on in 1957 New York. Musicals can be misconstrued as fluff. That's not what they are: They have the capacity to inform, heal, and entertain at the same time.
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