Ariana DeBose Should Know Her Worth
The Oscar-winning actor doesn't need to play second fiddle in bad action movies.
Today sees the theatrical release of Love Hurts, a new action-comedy starring two recent Oscar-winners: Ke Huy Quan (Best Supporting Actor for 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Ariana DeBose (Best Supporting Actress for 2021’s West Side Story). While that sounds promising, the resulting film is largely a dud due to director Jonathan Eusebio’s clumsy approach to a paper-thin story. The movie is also emblematic of the kind of weak roles DeBose has taken since winning the Oscar.
I don’t know if these parts are because DeBose is taking bad offers or because Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with a luminous young talent who isn’t a white guy.1 Either way, her film roles since West Side Story can be divided into two categories: They’re either smaller movies where she has the lead, but the film never picks up the serious distribution and marketing to make that a big deal (I.S.S. and House of Spoils) or a supporting role in a terrible action movie (Argylle, Kraven the Hunter, and now Love Hurts).2
Watching DeBose whiff when she clearly has the talent is disheartening because it reminds me of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s career after his win. He gave such a fun, electrifying performance in Jerry Maguire, and then his name became synonymous with bad movies like Snow Dogs and Boat Trip. The Oscar can help open doors, but it can’t keep them open.
