Need help for niece's school project!

My niece is doing a project for her 10th grade class and she has to recast the characters in West Side Story with current actors and actresses. She asked for my help, but I have never read West Side Story (I think I am the only person who has never seen or read it!) and I was wondering if you ladies could be of any help.

She needs to cast the characters of

Maria
Tony
Anita
Chino
Riff
Bernardo

Any ideas?

Thanks

Is she supposed to change the story at all? West Side Story was about rival gangs -- one with Puerto Rican members, the other with White members. The story loosely follows the plot of Romeo and Juliet -- except its a musical. If its supposed to be current I could see recasting the Puerto Rican gang with Arab actors and actresses to capture current tensions.

What a strange assignment!!

Well if she is supposed to stay true to West Side Story , you would want to cast Latin/hispanic and caucasian actors/actresses in those roles. I cannot think up specific actors off the top of my head, but here are some examples:

Maria - a sweet, virginial type -a latina/hispanic actress
Tony - any good looking , all american - caucasian actor
Anita - another latina/hispanic actress, but more 'spirited' and/or 'fiery' role
Chino - an hispanic/latin actor , sweeter type of guy
Riff - a tougher 'rougher around the edges' - a caucasian actor
Bernardo - another latin/hispanic actor, but more rough around the edges as well.

From there you can think up a list of current actors/actresses : Jessica Alba, JLo, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz? For men, I'm at a loss. Benicio del Toro(Maybe too old) Anyone with a more 'ethnic' look I'd say, doesn't even need to be a hispanic actor/actress

There again Natalie Wood played Maria in the movie and she wasn't latina.

ETA: its such a great movie, maybe rent it to help your niece with idea. I think she'd love it!

She is supposed to keep the script the same, pretending she is putting it on today. they need to design the set, cast current actors, etc. She is upset because she really wanted Romeo and Juliet but her group got stuck with west side story...and i am upset too because if were Romeo and Juliet I could have helped more too...Leonardo DiCaprio looked so cute it that movie!!!

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Posted by SweetHeatherB

My niece is doing a project for her 10th grade class and she has to recast the characters in West Side Story with current actors and actresses. She asked for my help, but I have never read West Side Story (I think I am the only person who has never seen or read it!) and I was wondering if you ladies could be of any help.

She needs to cast the characters of

Maria
Tony
Anita
Chino
Riff
Bernardo

Any ideas?

Thanks

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Maria -Jennifer Love Hewitt
Tony - Brenden Frasier
Anita - Selma Hyack
Chino-??
Riff- That guy from Sweet Home Alabama (blond guy)
Bernardo-Marc Anthony

That's all I can think of now!

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Posted by FeliciaDA

Well if she is supposed to stay true to West Side Story , you would want to cast Latin/hispanic and caucasian actors/actresses in those roles. I cannot think up specific actors off the top of my head, but here are some examples:

Maria - a sweet, virginial type -a latina/hispanic actress
Tony - any good looking , all american - caucasian actor
Anita - another latina/hispanic actress, but more 'spirited' and/or 'fiery' role
Chino - an hispanic/latin actor , sweeter type of guy
Riff - a tougher 'rougher around the edges' - a caucasian actor
Bernardo - another latin/hispanic actor, but more rough around the edges as well.

From there you can think up a list of current actors/actresses : Jessica Alba, JLo, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz? For men, I'm at a loss. Benicio del Toro(Maybe too old) Anyone with a more 'ethnic' look I'd say, doesn't even need to be a hispanic actor/actress

There again Natalie Wood played Maria in the movie and she wasn't latina.

ETA: its such a great movie, maybe rent it to help your niece with idea. I think she'd love it!

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ETA again: I might have mixed Chino and Bernardo up. I cannot remember which one was Maria's brother and which was the one who was sweet on her.. I think Bernardo was her brother, hence the one who was 'meaner' so to speak...

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Posted by StepherG

I'm not sure either! I just think Marc Anthony would play a good mean role!

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I can agree with you there. He is a good choice for one of the roles in that movie, definitely!

John Leguizamo for Bernardo or Chino?

Maria...Jennifer Lopez

Tony...Shane West (er now and walk to remember)

Anita...the girl from gh..her name is Livvie on the show..she used to be on the other soap that was cancelled. She has a mean streak to her.

Riff...Mark Wahlberg

And Definately John Leguizamo and Marc Anthony for the other 2. This is an interesting project I think!