‘What a ride’: Inside Oscar prep with Ariana DeBose’s mom, a Raleigh schoolteacher
Updated March 27, 2022: Ariana DeBose won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. For more on the Oscars, read this story.
Gina DeBose has faithfully watched the Academy Awards on television since she was a child. As an adult, she has watched with her daughter by her side.
This Sunday, she will sit in the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood — once again with her daughter by her side — and perhaps watch as Ariana DeBose climbs the steps to the stage to accept her own Oscar.
Ariana DeBose, born in Wilmington and raised in Raleigh and Wake Forest, is the favorite to win the Best Supporting Actress award this weekend, for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake.
And as was the case when Ariana was nominated for a Tony Award for playing Disco Donna in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” mom will be her plus-one.
“Ariana and I always watched the Oscars, that was always something we did,” Gina DeBose told The News & Observer on Friday, the day before she was set to fly out to Los Angeles for a weekend of high-glam festivities.
“We always watched every awards show. I’ve watched since I was a child. It was a big deal! I remember when Bob Hope was the announcer, but now I’ve dated myself,” she said.
While Gina DeBose perhaps didn’t sit on the sofa with young Ariana and picture the two of them at the Academy Awards one day, in more recent years, it’s a bet she probably would have taken.
“I guess more recently, in the past decade, I’ve seen where it could possibly be the case, but I never expected it this fast,” she said. “Those are things that are very elusive and exclusive, and the field she’s in — it’s just really hard to get that type of accolade. So for her to be 31 and at this point in her career, it’s pretty awesome. Pretty amazing.”
If Ariana wins the Oscar on Sunday — she’s considered the favorite by awards prognosticators and online oddsmakers alike — it won’t be her first major award for “West Side Story.”
She has already won BAFTA (consider it a British Oscar), Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Critics Choice awards this season.
And an Oscar win will put Ariana, who was The News & Observer’s Tar Heel of the Month in March 2021, in the history books as the first openly gay woman and the first Afro-Latina to win an acting Oscar.
Oscar dress (and shoe) anxiety
But before any possible celebrating, there’s prep for a very busy weekend, and that means shopping for a dress (or two) and shoes. Gina will need two outfits because she’ll attend a pre-Oscars gala with Ariana on Saturday.
“That is the most anxiety-ridden thing ever,” Gina DeBose said of shopping for Oscar outfits.
“Anyone who knows me knows that is not something I enjoy. It feels like I ordered 500,000 dresses, but I finally found two that I like. And having to find shoes was not fun, but I finally found shoes last weekend and got everything ready,” she said.
“Ariana’s glam team is working on my accessories, so that’s off my hands. I don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Gina said the team may give her a hand on hair and makeup, but their focus will be on Ariana, “making her look beautiful.”
And now, with the stress of finding the right outfits behind her, Gina, a teacher at Wakefield Middle School in Raleigh, can finally focus on being as excited as her students and fellow teachers have been since the nominations were announced in February.
“I’ve gotten more excited in the past two days because it’s hitting me that I’m leaving tomorrow morning,” she said.
DeBose worked on Friday (“A teacher’s job is never done,” she said), talking to The N&O during a morning planning period at school. She will be picked up at 6 a.m. Saturday for her flight to LA. She’ll attend the gala on Saturday, then the Oscars (including the Red Carpet) show on Sunday, followed by after-parties and a late dinner — all while adjusting from East Coast to West Coast time.
“It’s gonna be a weekend,” Gina said. “Whatever Ariana does, I’ll do. I hope I can stay awake that long.
“The adrenaline is gonna kick in and I feel like it’s going to be the same as the night ‘Hamilton’ was at the Tonys. The adrenaline just kicked in and next thing you know it’s 6 o’clock in the morning. I think I’m gonna have a good time. I’m excited to see what it’s like.”
Ariana was in the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton.”
Gina does plan to take a couple of days off next week, as she travels back to North Carolina from California.
There is a slight re-introduction of stress when Gina is reminded that because she’ll be sitting next to her daughter at the Oscars show, she’ll likely be on television. Probably a lot.
“Oh my gosh, I’m trying to keep that out of my mind,” Gina said. “I’ll try to be very stoic on camera.”
‘A true blessing’
Gina and her daughter have always been close.
She raised Ariana as a single mom and has been supportive of her talents from the beginning, moving to the Raleigh area when Ariana was entering sixth grade to give her more options in the dance and arts scene here.
“My childhood really was wonderful,” Ariana told interviewer Marc Maron in a podcast interview recorded in early March and released last week. “My mom is incredibly strong-willed ... she’s one of the greatest educators I’ve ever seen in action.”
Ariana’s father, she told Maron, was never part of her life.
Gina has attended Broadway opening nights and movie premieres with Ariana. She even visited her on the set of “West Side Story” in the summer of 2019.
Ariana told The News & Observer in December 2021 that her mother was there for the filming of the “Dance at the Gym” scene, and that she spent time chatting with director Spielberg (who picked up her mother’s AIR-ee-ana pronunciation of her name, instead of the ARR-ee-ana pronunciation she prefers).
And through it all, Gina said she is always impressed by her daughter’s talent and determination.
“She always had a little bit of a star quality about her, but who knew where that would go,” Gina said. “I’m proud of her though. She has worked really hard to get to where she is. That persistence and drive and dedication to her field, it’s pretty awesome, pretty awesome.”
Gina says her time talking to Ariana has been limited lately (“she’s been in London starting to work on the next gig”), but she said her daughter is excited about everything going on right now.
“The times I’ve talked to her she’s excited and she’s nervous,” Gina said. “She’s taking it all in and enjoying it, which is what I want her to do. This is a true blessing — just enjoy the ride.”
While they are both enjoying the ride, friends back home will be watching and celebrating no matter the outcome. Ariana’s grandmother will be watching at home in Wilmington, and friends at Theatre Raleigh and CC & Co. Dance Complex, both groups that were important in Ariana’s development, are getting together to watch in small groups.
“This has been such a whirlwind,” Gina said. “I think I’m just now wrapping my brain around it. I don’t know that it will 100 percent hit me until that night, but what a ride.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 3:32 PM.
