San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Rita Moreno on self-worth, never giving up
Rita Moreno emigrated with her mother from Puerto Rico at age 5. By 6, she was dancing at Greenwich Village nightclubs. By 16, she was working full time. By 20, she was in “Singin’ in the Rain.”
In the documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It,” Norman Lear says: “I can’t think of anyone I’ve ever met in the business who lived the American dream more than Rita Moreno.”
In the decades that followed, Moreno won a Tony, a Grammy, an Emmy and and Oscar, for “West Side Story.” (Her entire acceptance speech: “I can’t believe it.”) With seemingly infinite spiritedness, she has epitomized the best of show business while also being a victim to its cruelties. That has made Moreno, who co-stars in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming “West Side Story remake, a heroic figure to Latinos, and others.
“I have never given up,” she said in a recent interview by
Zoom from her home in Berkeley, Calif.
The reason for the conversation was Mariem Perez Riera’s intimate and invigorating documentary, which opened in theaters Friday. The film begins with Moreno preparing a Cubanthemed party for her 87th birthday. “And I demand costumes,” the screen legend says with a smile.
But as upbeat as Moreno remains, “Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It” also deals with the many turbulences of Moreno’s life: being positioned as the “Spanish Elizabeth Taylor” and the stereotyped casting that followed; a long and painful relationship with Marlon Brando; the abuse of her agent; a confining marriage.
Moreno was likewise forthright while occasionally reaching for a tissue for springtime allergies.
“All that cocaine,” the 89-year-old joked.
Remarks have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
What struck me most watching the film is that despite going through what would defeat or embitter most, you seem to have emerged with such joy and appreciation for life.
I have a very strong constitution. Maybe you inherit it. Maybe it’s due to learning how to cope with my tumultuous life through psychotherapy. I credit that for helping me through some really, really bad times. My mom was like that, too. And you know what? I have a feeling that a lot of people who are outliers have strong constitutions because it’s either sink or swim, right? And I think you learn early on in life that swimming is preferable to sinking.
How early did you learn that?
The first test, I think, was learning English in kindergarten when I didn’t know a word, not a word. That’s the first thing that happened to me literally when I came to this country. Children are impressively resilient. And
then, in a way, they’re also extremely tender and fragile. I think the reason I ended up having such a hard time in life is that I ran into a racial bias very early on. When you’re young — I mean 5, 6, 7 — and people call you bad names like “spic” or “garlic mouth” or “gold tooth,” like in “West Side Story,” you’re tender, you’re a child. You believe these things. You believe that you’re not worthy. You don’t know why, but you know that there’s something wrong with you.
Do you remember the first time you performed?
Oh, yeah. It was for my grandpa in Puerto Rico to a rumba record. Shaking my little booty. And he loved it. He was clapping to the music. And I was thinking: Wow, this is fun. And he’s loving this. I like this a lot. I mean, I was born to be a performer.
You said you wanted to be completely honest in the film but were there some things that were difficult to be candid about? You speak about being raped by your agent.
Oh, yeah. That was difficult. And talking about my husband (cardiologist Lenny Gordon, who died in 2010) was difficult in a different way. In so many ways he was a remarkable man. He was loving. I’ve never seen a more devoted grandfather and father
and husband. But what happened with us is that he was a controlling person. I have a theory that when some people have relationships, they make a contract with each other that is never verbalized. In our case, it was I’ll be the little girl and I’ll be charming and I will please you. But you have to be my daddy and take care of me and protect me. That was our agreement. It was never spoken. I didn’t realize it until one day I wanted to start growing up and the marriage was not working.
Your life seems to be this long process of unlearning the wrong things you were told about yourself.
What a wonderful way to put it. I had to learn that I was a person of value like all other people. But it’s very difficult when you learn something from childhood. It’s not as though I came to this country when I was 20 and learned something different. I was a little girl and you’re very impressionable. You believe that you don’t have value. You don’t know why you don’t have it, but you believe it. And, man, that is so hard to get rid of.
Your central therapy session followed years with Marlon Brando. In your memoir, you spoke about him as your greatest lover but your time with him was torturous.
Here’s what’s hilarious to me. It was he who said to me: “You need help. You need therapy.” So the lunatic is telling the crazy woman that she needs help! (Laughs). But he was right!
It’s not everyone who dates Elvis just to make Brando jealous, as you did. Are you sometimes amazed by the life you’ve led?
Yes. But I have to say that after I saw the documentary for the first time — my daughter and I saw it together — I left the screening room saying, “Wow, that’s quite a life I’ve led!” (Laughs) But you don’t think that way about yourself. Very likely, if you had something like this done about you, you would also say the same thing about yourself.
In watching what has and hasn’t changed in that time, what stands out to you? You were there when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
I feel extremely fortunate that I’m still around to see the sea changes that are taking place. I’ll be 90 in December, and I don’t think I’m going to see the women’s movement really progress more because I won’t be around. But I’ve seen it change. I’ve seen a change in such meaningful ways and I’m grateful for that. What still concerns me mightily and profoundly is that Hispanics haven’t gotten their hold on our profession, I don’t know what the hell is wrong. I don’t know what is not working right. The Black community has done incredibly and I have nothing but the deepest admiration for the Black professional community. They’ve done it, and I think we can take some lessons from them.
Do you have any answers?
We tend in this country to silo ourselves. We are Puerto Rican and then we are also Mexican. We are also Argentinian. We are Spanish Spain. And somehow those twains haven’t really met and coalesced the way we need to. That may be the answer. But it’s very complicated. People forget that we’re not just Hispanic. We are from other countries. Maybe the answer, or the beginning of the answer, lies in some kind of summit. I’m not going to see that. My age forbids it. But I sure as hell hope something happens. I can’t believe we’re still struggling the way we are. And when we do something that’s Latino, it doesn’t do as well. “One Day at a Time” (a Netflix sitcom begun in 2017) was hilarious. It was marvelous. It was no accident because it had Norman Lear who chose the writers. And we lasted 3 ½ seasons. You wonder: Why didn’t that happen?
Many would attribute it to the entrenched biases in Hollywood.
It’s one of the very few things about my career that really makes me sad. A lot of the reviews for this documentary were fabulous. A number of the critics said something to the effect of: It’s sad to think this woman might have had a real career in films had she not had this career when she had it. And I think that’s true. I want to say I’ve been robbed. But you know, what good does that do?
You recently revisited “West Side Story” with Spielberg. How was that?
It was just grand. I’ve been a fan of Steven’s work for years. When he offered me a part in “West Side Story.” I nearly peed my pants because this is Steven Spielberg, one of my idols. I said to him I would love to do a cameo, but I said, “You don’t really want me to do that, do you?” And he said, “Oh, no, no. It’s a part. It’s a real part. Tony Kushner wrote it for you.” First of all, Tony Kushner’s writing the script? What! I was thrilled. I was excited the way a child would be excited. Tony kept adding to the part. It’s a wonderful part. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
I don’t imagine you do, but do you have any regrets?
If I can’t have all the movies I always wanted to be in — which are all the Meryl Streep movies, I wanted to be her — but if I can’t do that, I’ve done pretty well, considering. And I think I’ve left an important legacy in a very meaningful sense and that is: I never gave up. I have never given up. I just cling and hang on to what is important to me. A great deal of that has to do with selfrespect and earning respect.