Wish: Ariana DeBose Reacts To Kids Dressing Up As Asha

Wish is now playing in theaters, and the animated film stars Oscar-winning actor Ariana DeBose as Asha, a girl who learns a dark secret about her kingdom’s wish-granting ruler. The film is currently getting mixed reactions, earning a 50% critics score and an 81% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie lost the holiday weekend box office to The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, but you never know what kind of box office life an animated film may have over time. While critics may not be loving the new Disney flick, you can pretty much guarantee a lot of young Disney fans are going to fall in love with Asha and her friends. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with DeBose, and we asked her about seeing kids dressed up as her character. 

“Yes, very much so,” DeBose said when asked if it’s surreal to see kids dressed as Asha. “It’s like, well, Asha doesn’t exactly look like me. She definitely has my facial expressions and some of my mannerisms. And personality-wise, she’s got some of my best traits, I’d like to say. But it’s so cool. It’s something I never thought I’d really see. I never thought I’d see anyone dressed up as Anita. I never thought I’d be playing Anita in West Side Story. So this is one of those, feels like an accidental manifestation that has been so fulfilling and rewarding and surprising and humbling. I’ll tell you that. It’s very humbling.” 

You can watch our interview with DeBose at the top of the page. 

Ariana DeBose Talks Disney:

During DeBose’s chat with ComicBook.com, she also talked about growing up loving Disney. 

“Yes. Oh, I was a Disney kid,” DeBose shared. “I wore out my VHS’s of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. My grandmother was very annoyed with me. But I don’t know. Every step in my journey, every chapter of my life, there’s been a Disney animated film. A character that has taught me a lesson, inspired me, reminded me of something, or even just reminded me to believe in myself. And it didn’t matter for me, at least at the time, I could always see within the storytelling that even if they looked different from me, that there was something that connected us all in a way. Which I think is cool, because you really get that in Wish. We’re all stars and we’re all native of stardust. And I was like, it sounds cerebral and magical, but it also feels true.” 

Wish is now playing in theaters.