From ‘Shang-Chi’ to ‘West Side Story’: Simu Liu and Ariana DeBose on ‘Cultural Authenticity’ in Their Breakout Films

Jeb Stuart is a name that has been around Hollywood for quite a while as a writer on such classics as “Die Hard,” “The Fugitive,” and “Another 48 Hrs.” After a long break from the industry, he has found a niche as a television showrunner for projects like Netflix’s “The Liberator,” and his latest, “Vikings: Valhalla,” which drops on Netflix on February 25.

Clayton Davis The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association announced its annual nominations where Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” leads the way with 13 nominations, including best picture, director, supporting actor, supporting actress, and adapted screenplay.Lin-Manuel Miranda received the most individual nominations of any person with six: best director for “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” voice or motion capture performance for “Vivo” and a trio of song mentions from the animated film “Encanto” including “Dos Oruguitas,” “Surface Pressure” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” The LEJA membership also selected Miranda as the recipient of the Latino Activism Award. Past winners of that award include America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Rosie Perez.

Starring in “West Side Story” again was an emotional experience for Rita Moreno.

Jon Burlingame editorMore than two years after completing his ninth “Star Wars” movie, composer John Williams is returning to the Jedi fold with a theme for “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Variety has learned.Williams has written the musical signature for the continuing adventures of the character played by Ewan McGregor, airing on Disney Plus beginning May 25. He recorded last week with a Los Angeles orchestra under tight security, sources say.It is a coup for both Lucasfilm and Disney, considering the five-time Oscar winner rarely composes for television.

Rachel Zegler and her  co-star, Josh Andres Rivera, are looking more and more like a couple!  The 20-year-old actress shared a series of pictures on Valentine’s Day, seemingly confirming their romance. “Committing Valen-crimes,” she captioned a black-and-white selfie featuring the two. Zegler kept the romantic posts going on her Instagram Story.

Ariana DeBose, who made her dream come true and needed to take a moment before meeting Hollywood legend Rita Moreno, her co-star in Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story.’The 31-year-old actress plays Anita in the 2021 film, the role that Rita played in the 1961 acclaimed musical. On a recent joint interview with the rest of the cast, the pair revealed some behind the scenes situations that took place on the set of the movie, including the moment the two stars met.DeBose said she couldn’t hide her excitement when she first met Rita as the cast was getting ready for rehearsals, “I was having a full-fledged panic attack,” DeBose confessed, “I hid underneath the bleachers for like 20 minutes until I could get myself together.”The actress had to pull herself together and prepared to meet Moreno for lunch, who gave her some sweet words of encouragement, “She calmed me down and gave me the space to feel my feelings.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorTo many, Dante Basco is known as Rufio in Steven Spielberg’s “Hook.” Reality TV fans will remember him on “Hell’s Kitchen,” but over the years he has turned his hand to producing, directing and writing.In “The Fabulous Filipino Brothers,” out now on-demand, he directs and stars, along with his brothers Derek Basco, Dionysio Basco, and Darion Basco, in the film structured as a series of vignettes following four brothers as their Filipino American family prepares for the ultimate Filipino event: a wedding.As the narrative intercuts between the wedding celebration in Pittsburg, Calif., and the vignettes that focus individually on the four siblings during the buildup to the big event, Basco worked with fellow Filipino American cinematographer Andrea Walter to deliver his vision. Says Walter, “Dante and I decided we wanted to give a different look for each brother.

Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated West Side Story will makes its streaming debut on Disney+ in the U.S. and most international countries on March 2, the streamer announced today.

a bevy of Oscar nominations, Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is now officially coming to Disney+ in March. Disney announced Wednesday morning that the critically acclaimed musical will be streaming on Disney+ on March 2 in the U.S.

As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the nominees for the 2022 Oscars on Tuesday (Feb. 8), the LGBTQ+ community was greeted with some good news: for the first time since Sir Ian McKellen was nominated in 2002 for Best Supporting Actor in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, an openly queer-identifying performer was nominated in an action role. Actually, twomembers of the Alphabet Mafia were nominated Tuesday morning: Ariana DeBose, who scored a Best Supporting Actress nod for her role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story; and Kristen Stewart, who was nominated for Best Lead Actress for her turn as Princess Diana in the historical fiction drama, Spencer.

Sasha Urban editor“Broadway, Here I Come!” said the musical adaptation of the late NBC show “Smash,” which Variety can exclusively reveal is planning a workshop for the summer, according to producer Robert Greenblatt.The musical was first confirmed to be in the works in May of 2020, with Tony winner Bob Martin (“The Prom”) and Tony-nominated Rick Elice (“Peter and the Starcatcher”) writing the book. Greenblatt is aiming for a Broadway opening in 2023, with the show being titled either “Smash, A New Musical” or “Smash: The Musical.”“They’ve delivered a draft that I’m very excited about, and we’re now in the process of putting together our first workshop, which is, you know, the earliest step in a musical where you just get a cast together, read the script and perform the score just for the producers,” Greenblatt told Variety.

Chris Willman Music WriterKenneth Wannberg, composer and Emmy-winning music editor who worked on nearly half of all John Williams’ films dating back to the late 1960s, died Jan. 27 at his home in Florence, Oregon.

Rita Moreno is opening up about how her nearly eight-year relationship with Marlon Brando turned toxic. The 90-year-old "West Side Story" actress and the late actor reportedly met in 1954 on the set of "Désirée." She was 22 years old. "Ultimately, it was exciting to be with Marlon.

Rachel Zegler is seemingly throwing shade at her West Side Story co-star Ansel Elgort, just a couple days after commenting on the allegations against him.

was accused of misconduct by a woman named Gabby six years prior, when she would have been 17. The film’s actors Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno addressed the accusations against the “Divergent” star in a recent joint interview with the Hollywood Reporter.Steven Spielberg’s film came out in December 2021, a year and a half after Elgort denied the claims. The “Fault in Our Stars” actor was noticeably minimized in the film’s trailers and, as noted by the Reporter, was grouped with the rest of the cast during the press tour, so interviewers could not question him independently.

Best Picture Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” seems to have taken pole position in the best picture race. Campion won a screenplay Oscar at the 1994 ceremony for “The Piano,” which was also nominated for best pic (it lost to “Schindler’s List.”). Early front-runner “Belfast” should also make the ballot.

Rachel Zegler is finally sharing her thoughts about her onscreen love interest’s sexual assault allegations.