Ariana DeBose

“I'm noticing generations that are coming up behind me that have gone to university or conservatory and, while they have beautiful technique when it comes to craft, there's not a lot of business sense or tools being taught to these young adults coming into the industry.”

“The road less traveled is difficult, but it can be done.”

“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.”

“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 loved to dance, and I just knew I wanted to be on stage.”

“I'm a Broadway girl at heart.”

“When I first started out, I wanted to be Madonna's backup dancer.”

“We just need to love each other.”

“Triple threat roles are what I'm built for.”

“I actually thought I was going to be a politician. I like people and I like to argue, and I like to help others, which, to me, sounds like a politician, but only if you're doing it for the right reasons.”

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

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

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

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

“I like the quiet of those moments during the preparation of the look, when you're with your team putting the final pieces together and you all see the look at its most fully realized.”

“I didn't see the Tony nomination coming at all. It wasn't on my radar. I just was happy to have a gig, and one that people seemed to like.”

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

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

“The fullness of who you are, what it's like to be queer, out, Latina, Afro-Latina, biracial, or multiracial, however you want to identify... we are moving towards a space where I think it is now more widely accepted to hear all of those labels wrapped up into one person.”