00:00I'm Revae Ruff with Essence. How are you doing this evening?
00:17Hi, Revae. I'm doing well. Thank you for asking.
00:21Awesome. Thank you for taking the time today. Just wanted to ask you really quickly.
00:25You're taking on such an iconic role that people have known through the ages in playing Anita in this movie.
00:31How does it feel to be updating this for a new generation?
00:35It's really thrilling. It's also very scary.
00:38You know, when you are stepping into the shoes of a character that is, you know, beloved.
00:45And, you know, a very specific portrayal of this character is beloved throughout the entertainment industry.
00:50You always just hope that there will be enough space for what you have to offer.
00:56I'm very grateful that Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner invited me to the table and validated my lived experience, you know,
01:06by allowing my experience as a Black woman, an Afro-Latina, to inform this character.
01:14And therefore, it allows the character to stand on her own two feet because she is so massively different from the Anitas that we have seen before just by that one fact, right?
01:25The way that she walks through the world is going to be different than the way that a beautiful white-presenting Latina will walk through the world.
01:36And to that end, there's been a lot of discussion in recent years with other portrayals of Latinas in the media,
01:46especially in the modern age, that it seems like there's a lot of at least perceived exclusion of Afro-Latinas.
01:53How does it feel for you to be kind of spearheading that and making sure that representation is captured in a story like this?
02:00Well, you know, I don't know if I'm spearheading it because that sounds like a scary word, but I'm really heartened and glad to be a part of the conversation.
02:14I'm someone who has the lived experience of not feeling like she was enough, you know.
02:22There were times in my life where I was told I was not Black enough.
02:25I was not Latina enough, and there was a moment in time where I did not know that you could be both, right?
02:34Only in my adulthood did I begin to understand that because society likes to tell you that it's either or.
02:42And the reality is it's not.
02:45And it's not every day that you see this lived experience represented in mainstream media.
02:51That is what makes this portrayal exciting in a way.
02:54It's not the only thing that makes it exciting, but it is what makes it different.
02:59And I think those differences, they're a strength, right?
03:03Because ultimately, we are not a monolith.
03:07There's not one way to belong to any culture.
03:10You are what you are, and you are inherently enough by virtue of being on this planet.
03:14And I think West Side Story has been one of the greatest gifts for me because it, through this character, through Anita, she empowered me to have grace for myself.
03:26And, you know, I'm noticing a theme in my work.
03:29Acceptance is very, very real.
03:32You know, with Alyssa Green in the prom, that it's all about acceptance.
03:35And this was another step in that journey, if that makes any sense.
03:42But it was a great gift to me.
03:44Yeah.
03:46Awesome.
03:46Now, I did read earlier that when it came time for you to audition for this role, you kind of made a unique refusal that you didn't want to actually read directly for Steven Spielberg.
03:56Can you tell me a little bit more about what led to that decision and what made you so firm in that I'm going to do this my own way and not the way traditionally that you have to read?
04:06Well, you know, typically when you go in, I mean, my experience, you know, 10 plus years in the Broadway world, specifically, if I wanted to be taken seriously as an actress, I couldn't go in and half-ass anything.
04:22I had to go in over-prepared because, quite frankly, I needed to show them that I was better than the other candidates and that, you know, so that they wouldn't ignore me.
04:33And I really felt that if I was going to go in and read for this role that is one of the greatest roles ever written for women in the musical theater canon, that I had to go in prepared.
04:45And I had gotten the phone call, the ask to come in at, like, 10 p.m. one night, and they wanted to see me at, you know, 9.30 a.m. the next day.
04:55And I was like, I really am grateful for the opportunity, but I don't have the time to fully prepare these scenes.
05:03And I guess I look at it as just a form of self-respect, to hold the boundary, to say, you know what, I would love to read for you.
05:14I just don't want to do it poorly.
05:15And I think it's kind of a testament to Stephen's ability to hear that and not take it personally because, you know, he was able to see.
05:26I just wanted to show him something that was potentially usable.
05:31I wanted to give him a viable interpretation.
05:35I'm very grateful that he wasn't offended by that note.
05:39It makes a lot of sense.
05:41And thank you so much for your time today.
05:43I appreciate you.
05:44Thank you for your questions.
Comments