Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorAs Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” steamrolls through awards season, gaining traction for leading ladies Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose, casting director Cindy Tolan talked about how DeBose almost missed out on playing Anita.It was just over four years ago when casting director Cindy Tolan received a call from producer Kristie Macosko Krieger who said, “Cindy Tolan, I have four sentences for you; Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner, ‘West Side Story,’ what do you think?’”A week later Tolan met with Spielberg, who told her he had no intention of remaking the 1961 film, but instead would base his movie on the 1957 stage production. With that, she was on board to cast the film which stars Ariana DeBose, Rachel Zegler, Mike Faist and Ansel Elgort.
