Current:Home > StocksRita Moreno Credits This Ageless Approach to Life for Her Longevity -Wealth Nexus Pro
Rita Moreno Credits This Ageless Approach to Life for Her Longevity
View
Date:2025-04-12 09:21:49
The idea of being mean to Rita Moreno is mystifying.
Not least because the West Side Story actress is one of the most accomplished entertainers in history, an EGOT winner and still inspiringly busy at 92. But also because she's one of the most gracious people you could hope to meet.
Apparently, though, there were some women once upon a time who didn't think much of her.
"I call them 'the b--ches,' the women who were very mean to me when I was younger," Moreno exclusively told E! News ahead of the release of her new movie The Prank. "Being Puerto Rican, all that kind of stuff, you don't forget that."
At least she was able to put those painful memories to good use for The Prank, in which she plays a sinister high school physics teacher who threatens to fail the whole class—and two plucky students spread the rumor that she may have murdered a missing classmate.
Giving stone-faced, silver-haired Devil Wears Prada vibes as Mrs. Wheeler, Moreno loved every second of it.
"Her heart is made of ice and she's mean as a snake," Moreno explained of her villainous turn. "If a student does something wrong, the entire class pays for it. She's just horrible! And I just thought, I cannot wait to play this."
At the same time, she added, "I laughed all through the movie. I thought, 'Damn, I'm funny.' But she's not a funny person—she's evil."
And yes, she had a specific person in mind.
"It's such fun to pin all that stuff on a character," she said of channeling her real-life antagonists. "One of those women was a woman who made no expression. I had an agent say to me, 'You don't have what it takes.'"
But Moreno—whose go-to advice for aspiring entertainers is to go for it but be prepared with a backup plan in case you don't make it—thinks she knows what made her vulnerable to other people's nastiness.
"It never even occurred to me that she was jealous," she said. "I just thought she didn't like me, maybe because I was needy. Neediness really bothers a lot of people, they don't know how to handle it. And as a result of not knowing how to handle it, they hate the person who is that way."
Again, the whole scenario is unfathomable. But Moreno has been jaw-droppingly candid over the years about her own insecurities and personal lows, such as the time she swallowed a bottle of boyfriend Marlon Brando's sleeping pills after one too many deceptions on the actor's part.
Thinking about episodes from her past that she can't believe even happened, "immediately the picture comes up, Marlon Brando, with whom I went on and off for almost seven years," Moreno told E!. "When I think of it now, I think, Wow… But that was my madness then, I didn't like myself. And I always picked men who were not nice to women. Of course, that's perfect for them."
She did find another, marrying cardiologist Leonard Gordon in 1965. They stayed together until his death in 2010, though she said in the 2021 documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It that she really wanted out of the union because he was so controlling.
On a brighter note, her marriage produced her beloved daughter Fernanda Gordon Fisher—who was with her mom at the Oscars on March 10—and Moreno dotes on her two grandsons. And she makes a point of being nothing like the mean women she encountered decades ago.
Moreno acknowledged that having a good attitude has contributed to her longevity—in show business and in general—"probably quite a bit."
Summing up her approach, she explained, "I call it spreading joy. If I see someone on the street who has a beautiful jacket on, I don't mind just stopping and saying, 'Excuse me, that is a beautiful jacket, you have good taste.' I found in my life that that makes people very happy."
Doing things that people tend to not do for each other anymore, like holding a door open or giving someone a hand at the supermarket, are among the little gestures that go a long way.
"And people don't know who I am," she added. "Don't assume that everybody knows who Rita Moreno is. They just know that somebody was very kind to them at the supermarket and helped them with their packages. I love doing that because I know it makes the day of that person."
The Prank is in theaters now.
Sign up for E! Insider! Unlock exclusive content, custom alerts & more!veryGood! (4)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Marc Staal, Alex Goligoski announce retirements after 17 NHL seasons apiece
- As obsession grows with UFOs on Earth, one group instead looks for aliens across galaxies
- How many points did Caitlin Clark score Wednesday? Clark earns second career triple-double
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Shares Heartbreaking Message to Son Garrison 6 Months After His Death
- Peacock's star-studded 'Fight Night' is the heist you won't believe is real: Review
- Group Therapy Sessions Proliferate for People Afflicted With ‘Eco-Distress’
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Commanders fire VP of content over offensive comments revealed in videos
Ranking
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- More extreme heat plus more people equals danger in these California cities
- Report calls for Medicaid changes to address maternal health in Arkansas
- Demi Lovato Shares Childhood Peers Signed a Suicide Petition in Trailer for Child Star
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- 'Face the music': North Carolina man accused of $10 million AI-aided streaming fraud
- Say Goodbye to Tech Neck and Wrinkles with StriVectin Neck Cream—Now 50% Off
- 2 Nigerian brothers sentenced for sextortion that led to teen’s death
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
How ‘Moana 2' charted a course back to the big screen
As obsession grows with UFOs on Earth, one group instead looks for aliens across galaxies
'Bachelorette' Jenn Tran addresses finale debacle: 'My heart is heavy grieving'
The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
Bachelor Nation's Maria Georgas Shares Cryptic Message Amid Jenn Tran, Devin Strader Breakup Drama
Linkin Park reunite 7 years after Chester Bennington’s death, with new music
Demi Lovato Shares Childhood Peers Signed a Suicide Petition in Trailer for Child Star