NEWSRita Moreno Blasts All of the 'B------' in Hollywood Who Were 'Awful' to Her
Rita Moreno has encountered quite a few unpleasant people during her decades in Hollywood.
While making a Monday, March 4, appearance on The View, the entertainment icon, 92, revealed that for her role in the new film The Prank — in which she plays a mean professor falsely accused of murder — she took inspiration from certain experiences she's had throughout her career.
Rita Moreno blasted people in the industry who have been 'awful' to her.
"I just thought, how am I going to play this terrible person?" she told the women at the Hot Topics table. "And I thought of all the women in my life — particularly in show business — who'd really been awful to me. All of these b------."
"I said to myself, I thought, I'm going to use all of the things that they did with me and my little Puerto Rican past, and that's what I do," Moreno continued. "Boy, was that fun."
Rita Moreno channeled all of her terrible experiences in Hollywood for a new role.
Although the West Side Story alum did not want to name anyone specifically, panelist Ana Navarro jokingly shoved a cue card and a pen in front of her and told her to write down who she was referring to.
Moreno has been open about how hard it was to make a name for herself in Tinseltown. "I want women to know that all the awards in the world will never make up for the things I have experienced in my life. The be-all and end-all is respect and self-respect which took me a long time to earn," she explained in a 2021 interview.
Rita Moreno shot to fame in the 1961 film 'West Side Story.'
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The 80 for Brady star began her career in the MGM studio scene, where she quickly learned how devastating the business could be. "It wrenches my heart, mostly that I didn't know how to handle that kind of thing," she recalled.
"Well, it was very common. The casting couch — there were a million jokes about that," Moreno noted. "I was raped by my agent when I was... I was either 16 or 17. I was sitting on the couch next to him and he said, 'Such a pretty girl,' and he put his hand on my cheek. And mounted me. I struggled, but he did it all."
Rita Moreno started her career in the MGM studio scene.
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"I think some people would say I was tough. I think it's resilience because if I'm tough, there's a part of me then that's become hard. It's simply not in my nature," the Play It by Ear actress said of herself and what she's endured. "Resilient is what I am. I'm a real bouncer-backer."
60 Minutes conducted the 2021 interview with Moreno.
