Ariana DeBose wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar 60 years after Rita Moreno won for same role

The Academy Awards were a pretty (oh, so pretty) affair for West Side Story star Ariana DeBose.

Six decades after Rita Moreno won an Oscar for her portrayal of Anita in the first big-screen adaptation of the beloved musical, DeBose followed in her 90-year-old costar's footsteps to win for playing Anita in Steven Spielberg's 2021 version of West Side Story. Moreno appears in a new role in the remake created just for her.

DeBose accepted her prize at Sunday's 94th Academy Awards ceremony for her work in the Best Picture-nominated film, beating out the likes of Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard), and screen icon Judi Dench (Belfast).

"Now you see why that Anita says, 'I want to be in America,' because even in this weary world that we live in, dreams do come true, and that's really a heartening thing right now," DeBose said. She also paid tribute to "the divine inspiration that is Rita Moreno," who watched DeBose accept her award from the audience. "I'm so grateful your Anita paved the way for tons of Anitas like me, and I love you so much."

She went on to thank her family and reflected on her past growing up as an "openly queer woman of color, an Afro-Latina, who found her strength through art."

"So, to anybody who's ever questioned your identity ever, or found yourself living in the grey spaces, I promise you this: there is indeed a place for us."

At age 31, DeBose joins a small list of Latina women who've been nominated for acting awards at the Oscars, including four for Best Actress (including Salma Hayek and Catalina Sandino Moreno) and less than a dozen for Best Supporting Actress (Rosie Perez, Adriana Barraza, and more). Moreno became the first Latina Oscar winner when she took home the gold at the 1962 ceremony.

Since her debut, DeBose has amassed an impressive track record of musically-tinged stage and screen credits, having appeared in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton and Netflix's ensemble The Prom.

"Steven has such great love for this film. I swear, when we were making this movie, he had the energy of a 12-year-old and I was the one limping around. He's running with joy and glee. I'm just like, ow," DeBose previously told EW of making the film, admitting that she didn't think she was going to land the role of Anita. "I was like, okay, so I'm just going to go in and be prepared for him to tell me exactly what he wants me to do and how he wants me to do it. I'm just going to deliver, because that is what is required for this director. And he blew my mind because he was just like, 'Well, what do you want to do?' And he let me run wild…. He was like, 'I hired you because you are my Anita, I trust you with her.' I think it's the greatest gift that he gave me was to empower me to trust myself."

West Side Story is now streaming on Disney+. See the full list of 2022 Oscars winners here.

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