Ariana DeBose

Broadway shows, you can do them for years and that's great. It's not my style, personally.

I was probably seven or eight when I first watched 'West Side Story.' The film - and 'Dance with Me' with Vanessa Williams and Chayanne, which I saw as an early teen - introduced me to Latin dance and Latin ballroom. They also introduced me to Latinx culture.

I would tell any and all young people who are curious about a life in the performing arts to stay curious, stay humbled, and always remember to bring the energy in the room that you would want to work in.

I had grown up watching the Tonys on the television. I think every sensible theater geek is watching that opening number, dreaming of participating in it one day.

I had been involved in the development process of 'Hamilton' for quite a number of years before we brought it to Broadway.

That's really special when you can watch a work of art change the world.

I work with brands where we can find a shared creativity where I'm inspiring them and they're inspiring me.

I work with brands that see me, that honour all body types, that are powerful.

I'm a woman. I fluctuate, I bloat - one day I'm curvy, one day I'm lean. That doesn't mean that there aren't days where I wake up with a bit of body dysmorphia or feel self-conscious, but that's part of the human experience, so I try to choose clothes that embrace and flatter the body that I have.

Much like identity, my relationship with my body and my style evolves.

After a while you also learn you can't change everyone's mind. That's on them.

I made a very conscious decision to get to know the business of my business.

As much as I'm an artist, I consider myself a business person of sorts.

We didn't speak Spanish at home. My mother is an educator and a glorious white woman, and I love the upbringing that she gave me. The way she tried to keep my Latinidad alive in me was through art.

It is surreal. It's wild. I will never not be 'Golden Globe-winner Ariana DeBose' now, you know?

To be recognized by your fellow actors, that's real special.

It's not often that a woman of color gets to sing material from the golden age or material that was inspired by the time period.

You should be able to dance with who you want to dance with at your prom and be celebrated for it.

There were many people like myself who never really imagined that women who identify as queer or lesbian would ever be romantic leads.

I have always wanted to make art that I thought was a conversation starter.

It's really fascinating how society has chosen to view or define what it is to be Latino. Latinos are not a monolith. There's no one way to present.

I like to disappear and watch people. I get my best ideas from watching other people.

I'm a social butterfly. But as I've gotten older, I've realized that I do have that side of me where I become a wallflower.

In the conversation around Black Lives Matter, Afro-Latinx people, we are part of that conversation.

My entire career has been people trying to put me in boxes.

I was very aware of who Rita Moreno was growing up. I was like, 'She's one of the women who sort of looks like me.' But, she is a white presenting woman. We are both Latinas, but we're different in terms of how we walk through the world.

My whole career is based on how I can continue to challenge myself. That's why I've taken each of the jobs that I've had.

I'm a strong-willed person, and once I've made up my mind, I've made up my mind.

I'm a Broadway girl at heart.

As a queer woman of colour I've been asked to be more urban, as if my brand of Blackness wasn't quite Black enough. I think that's interesting. I've also been asked to be more butch, which is not a bad thing. But sometimes you'd like to be able to bring your sheer humanity to a role.

I don't think roles for queer women have to always present in one specific way.

I think representation is paramount. It's really important to grow up and see humans moving through the world that show you possibilities, who look like you, sound like you, who may identify like you.

I really love people and I believe in philanthropy and advocacy.

When I left 'Hamilton,' my goal was just to take on work that was more challenging, like, a leading lady, heavily featured role.

I don't like work experiences, period, where I feel like I'm asked to fit a box, because my job is to discover the box and to define the box. That's my job, in my opinion.

I dance colors. Music shows me colors. I frequently say, 'I dance music; the music does not dance me.'

When I need to process, I move. In my childhood, it was the thing that helped me process whatever I was seeing.

When I think of growing up, I see dance, I hear music and I think of teachers.

We just need to love each other.

There have been insinuations that I was given an Oscar because I'm queer and because I am an Afro-Latina. And that's haterade. That's just haterade. And I know that.

Young people need to know that their dreams are possible. If you squelch a young person's creativity, you've done them a great disservice. I think children really just need to be told that there's nothing wrong with them, and that they do need their creativity.

We need more men championing women in Hollywood. I don't think women need to change. We just need to be allowed to do what we do best.

I was cornered in a bathroom at a Hollywood event and someone told me I took their job from them. And that, to me, was an only-in-Hollywood moment. That never happened to me in high school - no one ever cornered me and said, 'You took my boyfriend.' I guess I didn't have that problem.

Dancers do not progress to become leading ladies. We become well-respected ensemblists. When I left 'Hamilton,' I realized that if I wanted to be taken seriously, I had to go in and sing just as well as the singers who move - and not only that, I needed to try to be better than them because I'm a woman of color.

I grew up as a competitive dancer.

That's what I do best - communicate through movement.

I speak dance better than I speak English.

I'm not really a fussy red carpet kind of girl.

My Blackness, my Latinidad, and my queerness all resonate in me equally and can't be separated from each other.

I have to celebrate my Afro-Latinidad, not deny it.