I had the advantage of reading the book, and when the script was first submitted to me, it was just another gangster story - the east side taking over the west side and all that.
In my youth, cinemas showed two films in one day. I used to watch both of them. It may sound strange, but 'West Side Story' was the only musical I liked. I didn't like musicals, or films with songs, at all. I always thought they were not real, that the songs sounded a little bit false. But in the case of 'West Side Story,' things were different.
The wonderful drama teacher at my high school, Barbara Patterson, saw me standing in the hall and told me I should audition for 'West Side Story.' I guess she thought I looked like a gang member.
As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow than in striking one.
It sounds corny to say, but we're like a family. That experience for all of us really created a bond... The 'West Side Story' experience, it really is a family. There's a closeness that has continued.
I don't regret 'West Side Story' one bit. It was an incredible movie full of young people with amazing rapport.
I don't believe I was jinxed or hexed by winning an Academy Award in my first picture, 'West Side Story.'
Whether it's Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire or 'West Side Story,' see it on the big screen. That's the way we should appreciate it.
It's kind of wild and wonderful that 'West Side Story' continues to have a life after all these years. And when you see young people who are really engrossed by this film, that's so beautiful.
I was at Elon University in North Carolina for two years pursuing my BFA. And after my sophomore year, I was cast in the Broadway Tour of 'West Side Story.' I just kind of - it always was my favorite show growing up.
