Pittsburghers who enjoy the locally shot Showtime series “American Rust” may come across a familiar face at the movies this weekend.
David Alvarez, who plays Isaac English on “American Rust,” portrays Bernardo in director Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake. In a display of acting versatility, the 27-year-old Canadian actor goes from embodying a Western Pennsylvania man in increasingly desperate situations to the leader of a 1950s New York City gang who solves his problems through song and dance.
In a recent virtual Q&A with cast members, Alvarez discussed what it was like to be part of a revival for something as beloved as “West Side Story.”
“It was scary,” he admitted. “I didn’t know if I was doing it right half the time. I felt like I was in such a great environment where Steven and [writer] Tony [Kushner] and everyone involved in it, they just wanted to see you do what you wanted to do instead of telling you how to do this or what to do.
“They want you to trust yourself and have the confidence and search within yourself to see what you can bring to the character. That’s scary because you have all this responsibility to create something, but that’s how you become a better artist.”
For those unfamiliar with “West Side Story,” it chronicles the tumultuous love story between Jets member Tony (Richard Beymer in the 1961 film, Ansel Elgort in the remake) and Maria (Natalie Wood in the original, Rachel Zegler in the remake), who’s connected to the rival Sharks gang. Zegler credited the film’s creative leaders, including Spielberg and Kushner, for how “we were all able to look at [the story] with a fresh perspective.”
Alvarez’s Bernardo, played by George Chakiris in the original film, is the leader of the Sharks and Maria’s very protective older brother. Before his recent one-two punch of “American Rust” and “West Side Story,” Alvarez was well-known among theater fans as one of the original Billys in “Billy Elliot the Musical.” He and fellow Billys Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish were all awarded the 2009 Tony Award for best actor in a leading role in a musical.
The Montreal native relocated with his family to San Diego when he was young and, after finishing “Billy Elliott,” joined the Army and took a break from acting. Alvarez said that the casting director for “West Side Story” remembered seeing him in “Billy Elliot” and reached out about him auditioning.
“She somehow found me again and sent me a message. She was like, ‘Hey, I saw you in ‘Billy Elliot’ back in 2009. I was looking for you for a while, where have you been?’”
Unable to resist the chance to work with Spielberg, Alvarez sent in his audition tape without high expectations. Soon after, he heard from Spielberg himself with the good news.
“My mind was pretty blown,” he said. “It came out of nowhere. ... I get the call and it’s Steven and I’m like, ‘Oh my God!’ I’m freaking out a little bit and trying to sound professional like, ‘Hi Mr. Spielberg, how are you today!’ And he was like, ‘Don’t call me that, call me Steven, because I’ll be calling you Bernardo from now on.’”
Early on in the preproduction process for “West Side Story,” Alvarez showed up at a New York City studio to do a chemistry test with Ariana DeBose, who plays his love interest, Anita. DeBose recalled dancing with each other for the first time and stepping on each other’s feet, but still feeling like “there was something there.”
She described working on this version of “West Side Story” as being like watching a bunch of soloists “come together to create a community through movement.” It’s also a huge win for Latino representation on film, she said.
“Being Latino is not a monolith,” DeBose said. “Validating all those experiences and showing that and showing the diaspora, I think our film does a great job of that and I’m really proud of it.”
Alvarez, who is of Cuban descent and whose heritage is crucial to the identity of his “American Rust” character, also praised everyone involved with the film for championing his community.
“I think it’s a huge step forward,” he said. “What Steven Spielberg has done and this whole production has done is to do what past generations failed to do. It’s changing everything and leading by example. It’s opening so many doors for future actors from the Latinx community. It’s incredible for us to be leading this, and it’s all thanks to Steven’s vision.”
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.
First Published: December 10, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
Updated: December 10, 2021, 11:06 a.m.