‘I No Longer Worry About Fitting In,’ Ariana DeBose Opens Up About Being an Afro-Latina in Hollywood
We often believe that among women, success is directly proportional to jealousy. But Ariana DeBose’s experience of being a successful Afro-Latina in Hollywood has been different.
The Oscar winner spoke to the panel of anchors on “The View” about her experience after the success of the “West Side Story” remake.
“I no longer worry about fitting in,” DeBose said. “It’s very clear to me [that] I’m blazing my own trail.”
Identity as a crossroads
The daughter of a Puerto Rican father and a white mother, Ariana DeBose is considered one of the most important Latina actresses of recent decades.
However, her identity as an Afro-Latina and Queer woman has earned her many “firsts” in her career.
Ariana DeBose is the first Queer Afro-Latina to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award nomination.
In 2022, TIME magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Still, DeBose has been the talk of lapsed discussions on contentious social media.
Often, Latinos hotly debate whether or not one is really Latino, whether or not a person of color can be Latino, and even put the way actors pronounce the language under scrutiny.
For Ariana DeBose, what really matters is representing and doing her best to put our community on the map. And there’s no better way to do that than with the support of other women.
“Overall, I just feel empowered,” she told the “The View” co-hosts. “I have so many women […] standing up for me.”
The comment comes after DeBose’s recent negative experience with social media. The actress went viral on Twitter after performing at the 76th British Academy Film Awards. DeBose celebrated the nominated women by name in an original freestyle rap performance.
However, the criticism and toxicity of social media became too much.
The actress went so far as to suspend her Twitter account due to the aggressive criticism she received
However, the women took her side.
“I have women of all beautiful shades and ethnicities supporting me,” she added.
The myth of toxic competitiveness
Maybe it was the soap operas; perhaps it’s our particular sense of humor, but the truth is that many believe that women of color try to bring each other down for opportunities.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
“I think there’s a myth that [women of color] don’t support each other in this industry,” Ariana DeBose said in a conversation with Woopie Goldberg and Asunción “Sunny” Cummings.
“In this industry, we have to support each other,” Goldberg answered.
“We don’t have a choice,” agreed DeBose.
“I feel really empowered by my experience,” the Afro-Latina star added. “Now, I’m just focused on finding ways to keep doing what I love.”
And boy, is she doing it.
Following the success of the U.S. musical comedy television series, “Schmigadoon!” DeBose will reprise the title character for a second season.
The acclaimed series, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, pays satirical homage to the Golden Age musicals of the 1940s and 1950s.
DeBose told “The View” that the executive producer, Cinco Paul, gave her creative freedom for the second season.
“In season one, Emma Tate was very Mary Poppins, very Maria in ‘The Sound of Music,'” DeBose explained. “I said, ‘Great! I love this!’ because normally I wouldn’t be asked to do that.”
“It’s kind of rare for women like me to be asked to play that kind of character,” she said, referring to her skin color. She added that the second season will be something a little “dark.”
The second season of “Schmigadoon!” aired on April 5.
