History was made Sunday night (March 27) when Ariana DeBose picked up the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story at the 94th annual Academy Awards.
The award was the first one presented during the ceremony with last year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) and H.E.R. announcing the winner from the stage.
DeBose’s reaction was authentic as she stood up, kissed her mother, and walked up to the stage decked out in an all-red outfit by Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino.
“Imagine this little girl in the backseat of a white Ford Focus,” DeBose said during her acceptance speech. “Look into her eyes. You see a openly queer woman of color – an Afro-Latina – who found her strength in life through art. That’s what I believe we’re here to celebrate. So, to anybody who’s ever questioned your identity…or if you find yourself living in the gray spaces, I promise you this: there is indeed a place for us.”
With her win, DeBose becomes the first openly queer Afro-Latine woman to win an acting Oscar. She also becomes the first Latine to win Best Supporting Actress since 2013 when Lupita Nyong’o, who identifies as Kenyan-Mexican, won for 12 Years a Slave.
DeBose’s win comes nearly 60 years to the day that actress Rita Moreno won the same award for playing the same character in the original West Side Story film. On April 9, 1962, Moreno became the first Latine woman to ever win an Oscar.
“Your Anita paved the way for tons of Anitas like me,” DeBose told Moreno, who was watching her from the audience.
DeBose came to the ceremony as a heavy favorite to win the first Oscar of her career. She had already earned accolades at the Gloden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTAs and Critics Choice this year.
In December 2021, Ariana DeBose told Remezcla that her role in West Side Story was an opportunity to show Hollywood that Latines are here to stay. “As an Afro-Latina, this was really exciting to basically say, ‘Hello, we’re here,’” DeBose said. “There’s not one way to be Latina. And we’re all beautiful and we’re all gorgeous and have so much to offer. And we have goals, dreams, and ambitions. And we are smart, and we are joyful.”