Ansel Elgort to Play Tony in Steven Spielberg’s Upcoming ‘West Side Story’

When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way!

After an incredibly long search for the perfect lead, Baby Driver‘s Ansel Elgort has officially landed the lead role as the tragic Tony in the Steven Spielberg remake of the Arthur Lawrence and Stephen Sondheim classic West Side Story.

Since Spielberg was spending the better part of a year on simply finding the perfect cast for this huge project, Hollywood reporters were becoming concerned that the film may end up shelved and would never make it to production much like Spielberg’s earlier The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.

Since casting has finally begun, though, production will begin in summer of 2019.

West Side Story originally made its Broadway debut in 1957 with original music by Leonard Bernstein, and the now classic film based on the musical hit theaters in 1961 with Richard Beymer as Tony and Natalie Wood as Maria. The story is a re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in New York City with a rivalry between two opposing gangs, the Jets and the Sharks.

We are excited to see who else Spielberg casts in this film.

 

Elena Loedding: Hello! My name is Elena Loedding, and I live in Youngstown, Ohio and am attending my final semester at Youngstown State University. I major in English and minor in theatre. Since I was young, I have had a fascination with film, acting, and writing for the big screen. I have acted and written creatively since the age of 12. I have worked closely with local directors and writers in my area since coming to YSU as both a writer and actor, and I am super excited to be moving outward in the professional writing fields. :)
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