Meet Ariana DeBose: The Oscar winning actress who’s gone viral for *that* BAFTAs rap

At the BAFTAs on Sunday, the whole affair was kicked off with a solo performance from Ariana DeBose which consisted of her doing a freestyle rap that name dropped all the Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role nominees in a notably out of breath fashion which resulted in it being a camp-but-cringe viral pop culture moment for the ages. But who actually is the woman behind ‘Angela Bassett did the thing’, a line delivery that’s changed the trajectory of our lives forever? Here’s all you need to know about Ariana DeBose and who she is.

Right, who is Ariana DeBose?

Ariana DeBose is an actress, singer and dancer who hit the mainstream last year after starring in Spielberg’s West Side Story remake (An astronomical wow of a film, by the way). She’s 32 years old, and hails from North Carolina! She’s pretty new to the film industry – her first film was Ryan Murphy’s Netflix film The Prom before West Side Story in 2021.

She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar last year

Ariana DeBose honestly swept in last year’s Awards season, winning Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Academy Awards and more for her role as Anita in West Side Story.

She’s huge in the theatre world

Before her big film career moment, Ariana DeBose already had showed the world who she is with her successful career on Broadway starring in the likes of Hamilton and the Donna Summer musical.

She’s queer, and the first openly queer woman of colour to win an Academy Award for acting

Big slay from her. She’s in a relationship with costume designer Sue Makkoo – who she met whilst working together on the set of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. This pic of her and Sue is just too sweet.

She needs to reactivate her Twitter!!!

Obviously, the iconic rap didn’t presumably go down in the way it was intended for Ariana – and she’s not deactivated her Twitter in response to the endless memes. But the thing is, it’s an iconic moment for the ages and in my humble opinion she should embrace the camp and the love! Get the bag, sis.

The timeline is laughing, but with love and affection. LGBTQ people live for moments like this and she could honestly tour the Prides of the world performing her silly little bop. Trust the duchess, I’d be front row. Ariana DeBose, my woman king!

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