Ariana DeBose doesn’t believe in coincidence. She does, however, “believe in divine timing,” she told Yahoo Entertainment. So when she handed the Oscar statuette to Ke Huy Quan when he won Best Supporting Actor at the 2023 Academy Awards, it felt “like one of those examples of the right people meeting each other at the right time.”
DeBose, who is co-starring with Quan in the new movie Love Hurts, also credits his wife, Echo, with having some divine insight of her own.
“Apparently at some point during that evening when Ke won, she said to him, ‘I think Ariana’s Rose,’” the actress said, referring to her Love Hurts character. “The takeaway is, listen to your wives.”
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Quan plays a hit man turned real estate agent in the action-comedy film directed by Jonathan Eusebio, while DeBose plays his former partner in crime — and love interest — who comes back into his life on Valentine’s Day to settle some scores.
Ariana DeBose stars in Love Hurts with Ke Huy Quan. (Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures)
Saying they had a “wonderful time” during filming, DeBose added that she and Quan had chemistry from day one on the set.
“He’s so charming,” she said. “I love his energy. He’s so generous and obviously very talented. But he just, I don’t know, I find him surprising, and I love to be surprised by a scene partner. There’s this air of just honesty. And honesty can be surprising, you know? And I love that he’s not afraid of that.”
Despite having won her own Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2022 for West Side Story, the triple-threat actress-dancer-singer has had to confront the online criticism that comes with fame, especially after her viral musical performance at the 2023 BAFTAs.
“I used to look at social media as a way to, I guess you could say, cultivate community, have conversation in different ways,” she said. “I don’t think we’re living in a time where we can have as many productive conversations via social media. And so I’ve changed my practices with that. And I don’t look at comments as much as I used to.”
She said that “those little adjustments for me have allowed me to let go.”
“The Ariana that the world did not know, because I was not famous at the time, really didn’t care what anyone thought,” she said. “I appreciate that everyone is entitled to their opinion … but I wasn’t swayed by outside sources.”
DeBose said she’s “getting back to that” and focusing on “what it is that I believe about myself, who I believe myself to be, what my talent is.”
She added, “It’s hard, but I think being human is hard at times. And it doesn’t matter if you’re famous or not. It just is.”
For her role in Love Hurts, DeBose said she’s thrilled for the experience to come full circle with Quan.
“I’m glad it all came together,” she said, “because we had a really wonderful time making the film.”
Love Hurts is in theaters now.
