It’s no secret that Ariana DeBose is the Bullet. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Hamilton, she became the first actor to infamously embody the projectile that would eventually take out Alexander Hamilton. A pivotal role for the equally gifted dancer, vocalist, and actor, it may not have been afforded a show-stopping solo, but its significance has been deconstructed by Hamilton enthusiasts for years. If DeBose was a bullet in 2015, she’s a firework in 2021.
The triple threat, now 30, recently had breakout roles as the popular girl who grapples with coming out in The Prom and as the progressive schoolmarm with killer tap moves in Schmigadoon!. At this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, she performed a high-kicking tribute to Debbie Allen. Next, she is poised to become a household name by starring as Anita in West Side Story from director Steven Spielberg and Angels in America writer Tony Kushner. With every step, this Afro-Latinx queer woman is creating inroads for those who haven’t seen themselves represented.
“This concept of changing narratives, providing different perspectives, and giving women agency, that does seem to be a through line for my career,” DeBose says. “It does date back to Hamilton. The Bullet didn’t speak, but she said a lot.”
“I believe in the evolution of women,” she says. She’d recently performed a breathtaking version of “The Wizard and I” for the PBS special Wicked in Concert alongside luminaries like Cynthia Erivo. She long believed the opportunity to sing that Idina Menzel-originated song was out of reach.
“If you had told 20-year-old Ariana DeBose that she would sing anything from the Wicked score in any arena, she would have laughed at you,” DeBose says. “There was no space for someone like me, someone to look like me, identify like me, or sound like me. There just was a time when I was never going to be asked to potentially fill that need.”
Born and raised in North Carolina, DeBose studied dance from age 3. She landed on the national radar in 2009 as one of the top 20 competitors on So You Think You Can Dance. She then appeared in the national tour of Bring It On, and on Broadway as Mary Wilson in Motown and in the revival of Pippin (where she understudied and took over as Leading Player for a time). That was all before Hamilton.
A game-changer for representation on Broadway with a cast of primarily BIPOC actors, had an influence on musical theater that can’t be overstated. But DeBose’s career is also a beacon of how to shake things up in the best possible way. Even the outwardly light-hearted homage to the Classical Hollywood musical film, Apple TV+’s plays with representation. Starring Cecily Strong, Keegan-Michael Key, Kristin Chenoweth, and Alan Cumming, the show centers nonwhite actors, affords women agency, and gives queer characters the chance to be out. Indeed, DeBose’s Emma Tate is a catalyst for change. Midway through, asks its audience to consider some things that felt silly but actually had great substance,” DeBose says.
