After I finished working on the movie, I went back into the show again playing Riff, so it was an incredible time because I loved playing Riff in the theater and, of course, I loved playing Bernardo in the film. We had such a really beautiful time. We knew we were working on something of quality.

The first thing that was intimidating was when I started rehearsing to play Riff in the London company. That first day of rehearsal, I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm never going to learn this. I'm too slow.'

Whether it's Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire or 'West Side Story,' see it on the big screen. That's the way we should appreciate it.

George Chakiris Quotes