At 87, award-winning actress Rita Moreno is ready to remake 'West Side Story'
Rita Moreno is 87 years old, and this Puerto Rico-born icon’s still got it! Last month it was revealed Moreno will join the cast of Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story. Listen closely and you can hear fans around the world screaming after hearing Moreno’s exciting news. That’s not all, she’s also an executive producer on the film. “Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself revisiting this seminal work,” she said. “And to be asked by Steven Spielberg to participate is simply thrilling!”
Moreno won’t be reprising her role of Anita; instead she’ll play a store owner named Valentina. In 1962, Moreno became the first Latina actress to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story. That would be the beginning of her award-winning trajectory.
Moreno has been in show business for seven decades, making her Broadway debut when she was just 13 years old. She’s been in eight Broadway productions, more than 46 movies and 50 TV shows — talk about a vast and diverse career. She’s also one of the elite few known as EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winners. In 1973, Moreno won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children for the album The Electric Company. Two years later, she received a Tony Award for Supporting Actress. In 1977, Moreno scored an Emmy also for Supporting Actress for a guest appearance on The Muppet Show. Since then she’s gone on to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Screen Actor’s Guild Life Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honor.
She’s currently starring in the Netflix reboot of One Day at a Time. The comedy centers around a Cuban-American family with Moreno as the bigger-than-life matriarch. “Here’s what’s brilliant about the writing: There is a beautiful balance that takes place so that the [non-Latino] audience isn’t left out,” Moreno told the Hollywood Reporter. The show has been picked up for a third season and recently received a Critics’ Choice nomination for Best Comedy Series. Moreno was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
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