Still the top cats in town! As fans get their very first look at the West Side Story reboot cast, FEMAIL reveals how the young new actors compare with the original stars of the Oscar-winning 1961 film
- Steven Spielberg’s highly-anticipated adaption of the classic Broadway musical West Side Story is slated to hit theaters on December 18, 2020
- Twentieth Century Fox unveiled a photo of the new cast, including actors Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria
- The original 1957 Broadway musical is about the love and tension between the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, in New York in the ’50s
- The 1961 film adaptation starring Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood as Tony and Maria scored 10 Oscars after it’s release, including Best Picture in 1962
- Most of the Puerto Rican characters were played by white actors in the first film, and Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno recalled having to wear brownface on set
- Moreno, who played Anita in the original adaptation, is an executive producer of the new film and plays Valentina, a reconceived version of the store owner Doc
- Spielberg was committed to hiring actors from the Latinx community, and a casting call for the film specified that the Sharks are Latinx
Fans have gotten their first look at Steven Spielberg’s highly-anticipated adaption of the classic Broadway musical West Side Story.
The film is slated to hit theaters on December 18, 2020, and while it is currently in production, 20th Century Fox unveiled a photo of the new cast, including actors Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria.
The image shows Ansel, 25, and Rachel, 18, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes on the streets of New York in 1957, while their rival gangs the Jets and the Sharks stand behind them.
New stars: Twentieth Century Fox unveiled a photo of the cast of the new West Side Story adaptation on Monday
Meet the cast: Many of the original favorites, like Tony, Maria, Riff and Chino, feature in the new movie, however some of the character names, like Braulio, Chago, and Pipo, have been given new names that did not feature in the 1961 original
Switching things up: A few Jets (left) and Sharks (right) characters featured in the original movie (pictured) do not feature in the poster, however not all of the actors have been revealed in their roles just yet, and some names have been changed
Then and now: The 1961 film adaptation starred Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood as Tony and Maria (left). Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler, who is making her big-screen debut in West Side Story, play the star-crossed lovers in the reboot (right)
Story: The original 1957 Broadway musical and 1961 film are both about the love and tension between the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, in New York in the ’50s
The original 1957 Broadway musical is about the love and tension between the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, as they fight for control of their neighborhood on the Upper West Side.
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it was written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Spielberg is producing and directing the upcoming remake of the musical and 1961 film adaptation co-directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise. The new script was written by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner.
While there is plenty of excitement surrounding the upcoming film, the award-winning director has big shoes to fill.
The 1961 film starring Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood as Tony and Maria scored 10 Oscars after it’s release, including Best Picture in 1962. However, the production wasn’t without its faults.
Most of the Puerto Rican characters were played by white actors and wore brownface, leading to a number of whitewashing controversies in various productions of the musical in the decades to follow.
Spielberg, however, was committed to hiring actors from the Latinx community, and a casting call for the film specified that the characters who are a part of the Sharks are Latinx.
In honor of the upcoming remake, FEMAIL is giving fans a look at the new cast and how they stack up to the stars of the original film.
Richard Beymer (1961) vs. Ansel Elgort (2020) as Tony
In both the musical and the film, Tony is the co-founder and one-time member of the gang the Jets, who are led by his best friend, Riff.
The Jets rivals are the Sharks, and the drugstore clerk’s life takes a complicated turn when he falls in love with Maria, the younger sister of the Shark’s leader, Bernardo.
Richard Beymer is best known for his portrayal of Tony; however, he didn’t actually do any singing in the original film, which relied heavily on vocal dubbing.
Tony’s musical numbers in the film were actually sung by Jimmy Bryant.
Spielberg auditioned thousands of people over the course of the year before he cast Ansel Elgort as Tony, and the actor has both the singing and dancing chops to star in the leading role of the remake.
Elgort, 25, got his start as a ballet dancer at the School of American Ballet in New York City and graduated from the city’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, which is best known as the performing-arts high school depicted in Fame. During his time there, he became known for having an impressive voice, despite the fact that he has not put his talents to the test in a big-screen role as yet.
The actor is best known for his roles in The Fault in Our Stars, The Divergent Series franchise, and Baby Driver, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Changes: Natalie Wood was cast Maria in the original film, despite not being Puerto Rican. Colombian-American actress Rachel Zegler, 18, plays Maria in the new movie, having previously starred in the role in an amateur theater production
Natalie Wood (1961) vs. Rachel Zegler (2020) as Maria
Maria is Tony’s forbidden love in the film. Not only is she Bernardo’s sister, but she is also engaged to be married to the Shark leader’s best friend Chino.
Although Natalie Wood was of Russian and Ukrainian descent, she was cast as the Puerto Rican female lead in the film and wore brownface makeup to play the character.
While it is still considered one of her best film roles, her musical numbers were actually sung by Marni Nixon.
Before she took on the role of Marie, Wood was a Hollywood star and had scored an Oscar nomination for her performance in Rebel Without a Cause two years before.
Rachel Zegler, however, was a relative unknown when she was cast in the lead role of Spielberg’s remake of the film.
The 18-year-old Colombian-American singer and songwriter from Clifton, New Jersey, went viral in December when shared a video of herself singing Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow.
Zegler’s YouTube channel features a number of videos of her singing various covers, and while it reportedly had 85,000 followers in January, that number has jumped up to 175,000 since then.
The self-proclaimed theater kid actually played Maria in a local production of West Side Story making her first on-screen role even more fated.
She was cast in the film after responding to the production’s open casting call with a video of herself singing Tonight and Me Siento, two songs from the musical.
‘I am so thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Maria alongside this amazing cast,’ she told the Hollywood Reporter in January.
‘West Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character. As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.’
Changing times: Russ Tamblyn’s portrayal of Riff (left) in the original movie led him to land a host of future movie roles – and no doubt Broadway star-turned-big screen actor Mike Faist (right) will be hoping the role holds the same success for him
Russ Tamblyn (1961) v. Mike Faist (2020) as Riff
Riff, Tony’s best friend and the leader of the Jets, was played by Russ Tamblyn in the 1961 film.
The actor and dancer was also a trained gymnast, and he was able to show off his acrobatic skills in the production. Unlike many of his co-stars, Tamblyn did his own singing for the songs Gee, Officer Krupke! and Quintet, though his voice was dubbed by Tucker Smith for Jet Song.
The success of West Side Story led him to score more film roles, including the horror film The Haunting in 1963.
Mike Faist, 27, from Gahanna, Ohio, will be playing Riff in the upcoming adaptation.
The actor moved to New York City shortly after his high school graduation to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. However, he left the conservatory after just two semesters to start auditioning for roles.
Faist is best known for originating the role of Connor Murphy in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, and he was later nominated for a Tony Award for his performance.
He’s got moves: The role of Bernado calls for a skilled singer and dancer, and both George Chakiris, who portrayed the part in the 1961 version (left) and up-and-coming star David Alvarez (right) fit that bill, with both boasting impressive talents
George Chakiris (1961) vs. David Alvarez (2020) as Bernardo
For the 1961 film, the role of Bernardo — Maria’s older brother and the Sharks leader — went to singer, dancer, and actor George Chakiris.
He won both an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Puerto Rican character in the film, though he is actually of Greek descent.
David Alvarez, 25, will be playing Bernardo in the remake, and like his predecessor is a skilled singer and dancer.
The actor was born to Cuban parents in Canada and lived there until his family moved to San Diego, California.
He and his family later relocated to New York City after he received a full merit scholarship to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).
Along with Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish, Alvarez was one of the three boys originally cast to play Billy in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical.
Alvarez, Kowalik, and Kulish won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for their joint performance in Billy Elliot.
Big shoes to fill: Rita Moreno has become one of the industry’s most respected and revered stars since her 1961 big screen portrayal of Anita (left) and her successor, Ariana DeBose (right), looks set to earn the same renown as the original star
Rita Moreno (1961) vs. Ariana DeBose (2020) as Anita
Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno was cast as Anita, Bernardo’s girlfriend and Maria’s closest confidante, in the 1961 film.
While she did her own singing for the songs America and Quintet, Betty Wand was Anita’s singing voice for A Boy Like That. Moreno went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Anita.
During her 2017 interview on the ‘In the Thick’ podcast, she shared that she and her other castmates had to wear brownface while filming West Side Story.
‘We all had the same color makeup, it was a very different time,’ she told hosts Hinojosa and Julio Varela.
‘I remember saying to the makeup man one day — because it was like putting mud on my face, it was really dark and I’m a fairly fair Hispanic — and I said to the makeup man one day, “My God! Why do we all have to be the same color? Puerto Ricans are French and Spanish…” And it’s true, we are very many different colors, we’re Taino Indian, we are black some of us.
‘And the makeup man actually said to me, “What? Are you a racist?”‘ she recalled. ‘I was so flabbergasted that I couldn’t come back with an answer.’
Moreno is one of the few performers who has won an EGOT: an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony.
In the upcoming remake of the musical, the role of Anita has gone to singer, dancer, and actress Ariana DeBose.
The 28-year-old from North Carolina has an Afro-Puerto Rican father and a white mother. She had her big break when she competed on the competition series So You Think You Can Dance in 2009 and placed in the top 20.
DeBose was a member of Hamilton’s original cast and earned viral fame as The Bullet. She later earned a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Disco Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.
The return of a legend: EGOT winner Rita (right) will return to West Side Story in a specially adapted role. Instead of the lead role of Anita, Rita will take on the part of Valentina, a new take on the part of Doc, who was originally played by Ned Glass (left)
Ned Glass as Doc (1961) vs. Rita Moreno as Valentina (2020)
In the 1961 film, actor Ned Glass played Doc, the elderly drugstore owner where Tony works. However, Spielberg has completely reimagined the character for the remake.
Rita Moreno, 87, is returning to the big screen in the adaptation to play Valentina, a re-conceived version of Doc. She is also an executive producer of the film.
‘Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself revisiting this seminal work,’ she told Deadline in November 2018. ‘And to be asked by Steven Spielberg to participate is simply thrilling! Then to work together with the brilliant playwright, Tony Kushner — what a glorious stew! I am tingling!’
Meanwhile, Spielberg told Deadline that they always wanted to include Moreno in the production.
‘Her Anita is one of the greatest musical performances ever filmed, and a personal favorite of mine,’ he said. ‘We created an original role for her, and we feel beyond fortunate that Rita will bring her extraordinary gifts as an actress, as well as her deep understanding of ‘West Side Story’ to this production as an executive producer.’
Authority figure: Lieutenant Schrank is a plainclothes police detective and Officer Krupke’s superior in the musical and film, and the part has been taken by Ant-Man star Corey Stoll (right), who is taking it over from Simon Oakland (left)
Simon Oakland (1961) vs. Corey Stoll (2020) as Lieutenant Schrank
Lieutenant Schrank is a plainclothes police detective and Officer Krupke’s superior in the musical and film.
Simon Oakland’s performance in 1958 film noir I Want to Live! led him to be cast as tough-guy types, including Lieutenant Schrank in West Side Story.
Corey Stoll, 43, landed the role in the remake after most recently playing Buzz Aldrin in the 2018 film First Man.
He has also appeared in Midnight in Paris, Ant-Man, and This Is Where I Leave You. The actor was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Peter Russo in Netflix’s House of Cards in 2014.
Repeat performer: William Bramley played Police Sergeant Krupke (left) in the original 1957 Broadway production and later reprised his role as the cop in the 1961 film, however this will be the first time Brian d’Arcy James (right) has played the part
William Bramley (1961) vs. Brian d’Arcy James (2020) as Police Sergeant Krupke
William Bramley played Police Sergeant Krupke in the original 1957 Broadway production of West Side Story and later reprised his role as the beat cop in the 1961 film.
Brian d’Arcy James, 50, will be portraying the officer in the upcoming West Side Story. The actor has over a dozen Broadway credits, including Tony nominations for Something Rotten!, Shrek the Musical, and Sweet Smell of Success.
On the big screen, he appeared in the 2016 Oscar Best Picture winner Spotlight — for which he received a 2016 SAG Award.
They’ve still got it: The original Jets were led by Tamblyn’s Riff (wearing the yellow jacket in the left-hand picture), while the new Jets will be led by the same character, this time portrayed by Faist (wearing the green vest in the right-hand picture)
Original Jets vs. New Jets
Susan Oakes played Anybodys in the 1961 film, a role that has since been assigned to Ezra Menas, a former University of Oklahoma musical theater student.
Anybodys is a minor character that is loosely based on Balthasar in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.
Mouthpiece, another member of the Jets, is portrayed by Harvey Evans in the first movie and Ben Cook in the reboot.
Actor Tony Mordente played Action, a short-tempered member of the Jets. He also played A-Rab in the Broadway and West End productions of the musical.
Sean Harrison Jones will be playing Action in the new film.
Additional members of the Jets are to be portrayed by Brianna Abruzzo, Kyle Allen, Kyle Coffman, Harrison Coll, Kevin Csolak, Kellie Drobnick, Julian Elia, Myles Erlick, Leigh-Ann Esty, Sara Esty, John Michael Fiumara, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Garett Hawe, Eloise Kropp, Lauren Leach, Jess LeProtto, Skye Mattox, Adriana Pierce, Brittany Pollack, Daniel Patrick Russell, Talia Ryder, Jonalyn Saxer, Halli Toland – and former Dance Moms star-turned-Sia music video prodigy Maddie Ziegler.
She’s a Shark: Suzie Kaye portrayed Rosalia, Indio’s girlfriend, in the original film. Ana Isabelle will be playing Rosalia in the new film
Making changes: Some of the names of the characters in the Sharks appear to have been changed from the original (left); the new group (right) features the likes of Quique, Chago and Braulio in place of Pepe, Indio and Loco
Original Sharks vs. New Sharks
In the 1961 film, Jose De Vega played Chino Martin, Bernardo’s best friend and Maria’s scorned and vengeful suitor.
Actor Josh Andrés Rivera, who has appeared in the ensemble for Hamilton for nearly two years, has been cast as Chino in the new film.
It seems as though Spielberg has changed a few of the Sharks’ names in the upcoming film.
In the original movie, Jay Norman played Pepe, Bernardo’s lieutenant; Gus Trikonis was cast as Indio, Pepe’s best friend; Eddie Verso took on the role of Juano; and Jaime Rogers portrayed Loco.
However, the Sharks that are featured in the new cast photo have different names; gone are original characters like Pepe, Indio, Juano, and Loco, and in their place, Julius Anthony Rubio will play a character called Quique, Ricardo Zayas has been cast as a character known as Chago, Sebastian Serra is portraying Braulio, and Carlos Sánchez Falú is taking on the role of Pipo.
Meanwhile, Ana Isabelle will be playing Rosalia in the new film. Suzie Kaye portrayed Rosalia, Indio’s girlfriend, in the original film.
One thing that Spielberg was adamant about, however, is casting Latinx actors in the roles, while in the 1961 original, many of the professionals who played the Sharks were actually white actors who were wearing brownface, a controversial decision that then led to a number of whitewashing controversies in various productions of the musical in the decades to follow.
Additional members of the Sharks are to be portrayed by David Aviles Morales, Yesenia Ayala, María Alejandra Castillo, Annelise Cepero, Andrei Chagas, Jeanette Delgado, Kelvin Delgado, Gaby Diaz, Yurel Echezarreta, Adriel Flete, Carlos E. Gonzalez, David Guzman, Jacob Guzman, Ana Isabelle, Melody Martí, Ilda Mason, Juliette Feliciano Ortiz, Edriz E. Rosa Pérez, Maria Alexis Rodriguez, Gabriela Soto, Ricky Ubeda, Tanairi Vazquez, Jamila Velazquez, and Isabella Ward.
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