Ansel Elgort recruits the male leader in Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story"



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3:20 pm PDT 10/1/2018

by

Borys Kit

The star of "Baby Driver" has grabbed the male lead in the upcoming musical.

Baby Driver Star Ansel Elgort has taken on the lead role of Steven Spielberg West Side Story.

The actor will play Tony, a role performed by Larry Kert in the original Broadway musical in 1957. Richard Beymer played the role in the 1961 classic film.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner wrote the adaptation of the musical originally written by Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim on music by Leonard Bernstein.

Spielberg has spent the better part of the year looking for stars for his film, with actors who must be able to sing, dance and, of course, show heart for the story that transposes Romeo and Juliet in a 1950s decor in New York with white and Puerto Rican stripes.

The search took so long that Hollywood watchers feared that the project would be put on the back burner, just like the challenges posed by Spielberg The abduction of Edgardo Mortara. The production screened thousands of actors and dancers in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Puerto Rico, many believing that Spielberg would cast an unknown character.

Elgort's casting now West Side Story firmly on the way to a production start for the summer of 2019. Spielberg, Kevin McCollum and Kristie Macosko Krieger produce the film.

Elgort, who introduced some of the needed chops in Baby Driver, will play the tragic Tony, who was once part of the white band of the Jets and falls in love with Maria, the sister of the Sharks leader, the Puerto Rican gang.

The actor born in New York broke out by breaking hearts in the 2014 weepie drama Blame our stars. His next outing will be in The goldfinch, an adaptation of Donna Tartt's novel, whose release is scheduled for October 11, 2019.

Elgort is relaunched by CAA and Manager Emily Gerson Saines.

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