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Feb 6, 2023 · Silver Screen Collection/Getty. The original 1961 cast includes Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris. Not only did the talented bunch play notable roles in ...
- Kelsie Gibson
- Maria: Natalie Wood and Rachel Zegler. Natalie Wood originally played Maria in the 1961 film. Even though the late Oscar-nominated actress had many notable roles throughout her career, including Miracle on 34th Street, Splendor in the Grass and Gypsy, her part in West Side Story is often regarded as one of her greatest.
- Tony: Richard Beymer and Ansel Elgort. Richard Beymer originally played Tony in the 1961 classic, for which he received two Golden Globe nominations for most promising newcomer and best actor in a comedy or musical.
- Riff: Russ Tamblyn and Mike Faist. After roles in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Peyton Place, which earned him an Oscar nomination in 1958, Tamblyn (yes, Amber Tamblyn's dad) played Riff, the leader of the Jets gang.
- Anita: Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose. Moreno famously played Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend and Maria's best friend, in 1961's West Side Story. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role (though she's since expressed regrets over the skin-darkening makeup she had to wear).
- Isabel Cervantes
- Tony (Ansel Elgort) Previously a Jet leader, Tony has left the gang lifestyle in the beginning of the film and is now Valentina’s employee. Tony is a romantic young man who, after being asked by Riff to go to a neighborhood dance to stand up to Bernardo with the rest of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, making him the musical’s Romeo.
- Maria (Rachel Zegler) Maria is a teenage girl who just moved to America from Puerto Rico for her arranged marriage to her brother’s friend Chino; she is the story’s Juliet.
- Bernardo (David Alvarez) The leader of the Sharks and Maria’s older brother, Bernardo is proud, strong, and looking to carve a place in the Upper West Side for himself and the rest of the Sharks.
- Anita (Ariana DeBose) Anita is Bernardo’s girlfriend, and Maria’s best friend and confidant. She is feisty and assertive, frequently challenging Bernardo on his overprotective nature in regards to Maria, and his activity with the Sharks.
- Adam Chitwood
- Rachel Zegler as Maria. 20-year-old actress Rachel Zegler, a relatively newcomer, fills the role of Maria, a young Puerto Rican girl who falls in love with Tony.
- Ansel Elgort as Tony. Ansel Elgort, best known for roles in films like “Baby Driver” and “The Fault in Our Stars,” fills the role of Tony a former member of the gang known as the Jets.
- Ariana DeBose as Anita. Ariana DeBose, a Tony-nominated actress with Broadway cred who also appeared in the Netflix musical “The Prom,” plays the role of Anita who is Maria’s best friend.
- David Alvarez as Bernardo. Tony-winning actor David Alvarez, who appeared in Broadway’s “Billy Elliot,” plays Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks gang, older brother of Maria and boyfriend of Anita.
West Side Story is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare 's play Romeo and Juliet , the story is set in the mid-1950s in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, then a multiracial , blue-collar neighborhood.
Actor. Years active. 1947–1969. Edward Barry Kelley (August 19, 1908 – June 5, 1991) was an American actor on Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s and in films during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The heavy-set actor created the role of Ike in Oklahoma! on Broadway. His large size and acting range had him playing primarily judges, detectives, and ...
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Mar 2, 2022 · West Side Story is a story for the ages—but as the cast of the new remake goes to show, all things must change. Sixty years after the iconic musical movie first hit screens, West Side Story was ...
