Vanity Fair: What do you remember about the first time you met?
Ariana DeBose: Well, I don’t know if it was an official meeting, but I remember auditioning for Bring It On and you were not in the room. I was attempting to rap. And you came in, like mid-stream, and you were like, “You sound great, you’re doing great, I’m just going to…” And I was like—
Lin-Manuel Miranda: Oh, was I late? [Laughs].
DeBose: You were late. And I was like, “That was a nice entrance because at least he said, ‘Hello.’ He looked at me in the eyes.” It wasn’t like an official meeting, but I remember being like, “That’s Lin-Manuel Miranda and he looked me in the face.”
Miranda: I just remember what a joy you were to work with on that, your Broadway debut. More than anything, I remember your first time onstage in front of an audience and the energy was like shoot
DeBose: I don’t know what to do. I am everywhere. I couldn’t stand still.
Miranda: But it was also watching that go from that to using all that energy and focusing it and this laser focus that you, frankly, needed in that show because we were doing stunts and lifts and if you’re not focused someone—
DeBose: People could have died.
Miranda: And watching you sort of rise to become a leader in that space. It was just like, “Oh, I get to see stardom. I get to see stardom here in Atlanta.” To watch that journey was such a joy. I just feel very proud to say I knew you when.
DeBose: I’m just over here like, “Oh, my God, I’m in the room with him still.” I remember, just for point of order, I remember when you and Alex Lacamoire were putting together first readings of Hamilton, I was doing you guys a favor and just helping you by reading the Angelica material.
Miranda: You were a very early Angelica for us.
DeBose: And I was like, “This is special.” And I remember looking at you and being like, “I’m not right for this part, but I’d like to be in this show.”
Miranda: That was, like, three days in a room where we were just trying stuff and you guys were learning it and singing it—
DeBose: It was a great room. I don’t know, that’s the fun part about making work, you know? It’s the simplicity of it. Just going in a room and trying something. You guys taught me how to do that with Bring It On and then I’ve had the opportunity to continue to do that with people like you and taking those experiences to work on West Side. It was a bigger scale, but it’s the same basic principle.
Miranda: You have been up close on three shows in process—not just Bring It On and Hamilton but Donna—where you’re literally seeing us trying stuff out. When you’re doing previews it’s like, “Here’s a cut, let’s see what the audience thinks.” You feel what the audience feels about it. Was there anything from just your workshop experiences that came in handy, that was already in your tool belt when you were in rehearsal for West Side?