"It was great": When Oscar winner Ariana DeBose shared a heartwarming Governors Awards memory; talked about filming Argylle

Ariana DeBose got her breakthrough role in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story adaptation, which essentially kickstarted her Hollywood career. By then, she had already been a known name on Broadway, having starred in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton among other projects.

West Side Story earned her an Oscar for playing fiery and passionate Anita alongside Rachel Zegler's María. Drenched in the culture of the Puerto Rican youths from Manhattan, the film proved a big success. It took Ariana DeBose from being a dynamic player in Miranda's stage play to being one of the sought-after actors. The film opened doors for different projects and connected her to a bigger stage.

Two years after winning the Academy Award, she attended the Governors Awards ceremony and spent some time with Emma Stone. She posted a picture of a heartwarming moment they shared. It seemed like they were having fun as Stone seemingly wrapped herself in DeBose's dress. So, during her appearance on The Tonight Show in January 2024, Jimmy Fallon asked her about the picture. In jest, she said,

"You know, we connected in the bathroom. It was great."

Then, she spoke about the friendship with Stone that might have led to this fun moment.

"In all seriousness, we became friends recently and finally got to meet in person. And I was like, "We have to commemorate this." And [Emma Stone] said, "I shall wrap myself in your skirt." I took a picture of it. So, there you go," DeBose said.

Ariana DeBose spoke about Matthew Vaughn's Argylle and working on non-musical projects.

In 2024, Ariana DeBose starred in Matthew Vaughn's Argylle, a spy thriller starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Sofia Boutella, Samuel L. Jackson, and more. It may have seemed like a stark departure from her previous roles to some viewers,

Until then, Ariana DeBose was mainly recognized for her work in musicals. So, Argylle showed her range, playing tech support agent Keira, the skilled and reliable force behind Elly Conway's fictional spy character. As it turns out, it was a deliberate choice on her part. She wanted to step into a different kind of world. Argylle allowed her to do something along those lines.

"I wanted to do things that were so drastically different from musicals because at that point, I had made West Side Story and The Prom with Ryan Murphy, and I was working on Schmigadoon!. So, I felt like, 'Wow, I'm really good with the musical stuff. Let's see if I can do anything else.' "

Around the same time, Ariana DeBose played Dr. Kira Foster in Gabriela Cowperthwaite's I.S.S. (2023), which followed her as a NASA astronaut stuck in space during a geopolitical crisis.

Until then, we had witnessed Sandra Bullock's Ryan Stone floating in space in Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity (2013), and Jessica Chastain's Melissa Lewis rescuing her crewmate in Ridley Scott's The Martian. It might have made viewers think that the actors were actually floating in zero-gravity like the characters. DeBose had a similar impression of how it would be executed on set.

During the interview, she shed light on how it was executed.

"When I got the job, in my brain, I was like, "They're gonna put me in a zero-gravity tank, and I'm just gonna float and they're gonna shoot it. That's not how that works. They put you in harnesses and there's a whole team of riggers [that works with you]."

Since then, Ariana Debose has also been a part of other non-musical projects like Kraven the Hunter (2024), Love Hurts (2025), and House of Spoils (2024). She was recently seen in Stephanie Laing's Tow, a comedy drama that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. We'll get more updates about her new projects soon.

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Also read: “Felt like I was at the masterclass”: 23-year-old Jurassic World Rebirth star Luna Blaise shares her experience on joining the iconic franchise

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