dance sequences, Spielberg recruited
Justin Peck, resident choreographer for
the New York City Ballet. For the new
script, he turned to Angels in America
playwright Tony Kushner, who previ-
ously worked with him on Munich and
Lincoln, to craft an updated story that
retains the familiar songs but embeds
them in a more realistic cityscape. That
realism also applied to casting. Many of
the “Puerto Ricans” in the original movie
were white actors in brown makeup. Spiel-
berg only wanted performers with His-
panic backgrounds to play Hispanic
characters, and he estimates that 20 of
the 33 Puerto Rican characters are spe-
cically Puerto Rican or of Puerto Rican
descent. “They brought an authenticity,”
he says. “They brought themselves, and
everything they believe and everything
about them—they brought that to the
work. And there was so much interaction
between the cast wanting to be able to
commit to the Puerto Rican experience.
They all represent, I think, a diversity, both
within the Puerto Rican, Nuyorican com-
munity as well as the broader Latinx
community. And they took that seriously.”
The ilm stars newcomer Rachel
Zegler in the role originated onscreen
by Natalie Wood—purehearted Maria,“The cast brought an authenticity,”
says the director. “They brought
themselves—and everything
they believe—to the work.”
Rita Moreno won a best supporting
actress Oscar for playing Anita in the
original lm, and, at 88 , has returned to
play a dierent role in Spielberg’s proj-
ect. Remember Doc, the old-timer who
ran the corner store that served as neu-
tral ground for the gangs? Moreno plays
a new character, Valentina, Doc’s wid-
ow, who’s also a peacemaker—although
perhaps a little tougher. The actor says
Spielberg and Kushner “really wanted to
right some...should I say wrongs? I don’t
know if that’s...yes, that’s fair, because
the [ 1961 ] lm had a lot of things that
were wrong with it, aside from the fact
that it had a lot of things that were very
right.” One of the wrongs, she says,When a neighborhood dance devolves
into hostility, Maria’s best friend, Anita,
tries to be a voice of reason. Now played
by Ariana DeBose, Anita has one of West
Side Story’s most vivacious numbers,
extolling the wonders of living Stateside
in the song “America.”Anita: “Life can be bright in America.”Bernardo and the Sharks: “If you can
ght in America.”Anita and the girls: “Life is all right
in America.”Bernardo and the Sharks: “If you’re
all white in America.”part of the wave of Puerto Rican migrants
who traded one island for another when
they came to New York seeking a new life
in the post–World War II economic boom.
Her streetwise Casanova is Tony (Baby
Driver actor Ansel Elgort, taking over the
part played by Richard Beymer), who
once led a gang of local toughs known as
the Jets, but has since outgrown them.
Tony’s old friends are engaged in an
escalating battle for control of the neigh-
borhood against Puerto Rican rivals who
call themselves the Sharks, led by Maria’s
brother Bernardo (David Alvarez, one of
the original leads of Billy Elliot the Musi-
cal, playing the role that earned George
Chakiris a best supporting actor Oscar).110 VANITY FAIR