A young Rita Moreno tried to emulate Elizabeth Taylor in her appearance, but when it came to her hair she maintained her cultural identity.
During Saturday’s Sundance Film Festival, Moreno, 89, opened his early years in Hollywood and Gene Kelly’s request to cut his hair for his role as Zelda Zanders in the 1952 film “Singin ‘ in the Rain “.
“I did something so Latin because I was the most shy person on earth and I said no,” said Moreno, who is the subject of the documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go There.”
“And he was really surprised because no one ever said no to Gene Kelly, and I was scared to death after I said that.”
Kelly asked him why and the Puerto Rican star said he was going against his culture.
“Well, we don’t cut our hair where I live, we don’t,” he said.
Kelly “held it” and put it on her red wig, which “thrilled” her because it required light makeup when she had only been used to it being done on dark-skinned papers that required accent.
“I was playing a white role,” he said, “and I was excited because I thought,‘ Okay, this is the end of those other parts where I have to talk with accents and all that kind of stuff. It’s not like that. “
During the chat, which also featured “Sesame Street” star Sonia Manzano, Morena also talked about being totally honest in her documentary, which meant not putting on makeup despite the presence of a camera.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he joked. “I really am not. I’m kidding, but boy, is it shocking. It’s shocking – some of those scenes where I don’t have any makeup on. But I thought it would live up to my promise and I wouldn’t run to my bedroom … to beautify myself ”.
Moreno said he has what he would call “the face of a classic actor,” meaning that he “completely changes” with cosmetics.
“While I was putting on makeup, I said to myself,‘ It’s amazing. How do I do it? ‘ They did make-up for me, ”he said. “It’s really fascinating for me.”