Rita set for ‘West Side Story’ remake

The 86-year-old American actress Rita Moreno, who won an Oscar in the original film version of West Side Story, is being cast in Steven Spielberg’s hotly anticipated remake.

Her publicist announced that Moreno, who played Anita the first time around, will this time play the role of Valentina — a reconceived version of a corner store owner. She will also get an executive producing credit.

Back in May, the Puerto Rican-born actress confessed that she was anxiously awaiting the Spielberg remake, which has advertised for Latino actors in all the main roles — not the case for the 1961 original. “I am very curious to see what he does with it. I am nervous about it. Listen, we did very cliched things in West Side Story but I am sure he’s going to avoid that because times have changed,” she said.

“From our earliest discussions, we wanted to include Rita Moreno in our production,” said Spielberg in a statement sent by Moreno’s publicist.

“Her Anita is one of the greatest musical performances ever filmed, and a personal favourite of mine,” he added.