“It’s insane. And it’s absolutely obscene what has happened to that poor, beleaguered island. And I absolutely believe with all of my heart that the governor could have done a whole lot better. I’m not just speaking of the president; I’m speaking of the governor. And believe me, a lot of people feel…”— Rita Moreno, avclub.com
“Here's the thing: If it's going to be a contemporary version of West Side Story, you're going to have to have rap and if you're going to have rap, what does that do to the songs? Do they use the songs? Do they not use the songs? And what in fact if you do rap are you going to do about the dances? Be…”— Rita Moreno, npr.org
“It’s wonderful. As you know, she’s shameless. She’ll flirt with anyone and anything, and that includes a fence post. [Laughs] And I love it! Everything I love about playing her is a negative. She’s vain, she tends to be loud sometimes, she’s opinionated, she’s rude to her young granddaughter. Everyt…”— Rita Moreno, avclub.com
“What I say to my gente [people] is to hang on, and to remember who they are, be proud of who they are, and keep talking. And keep complaining, and just don't ever — don't give up. That's always been my motto anyway. My motto has always been 'persevere' — perseverancia. And that's what we need to do.”— Rita Moreno, npr.org
“I had won two major awards for West Side Story — I had won the Oscar and a Golden Globe — and fully believing that I was going to get a lot of work from then on and everything was going to be just rosy. And the opposite happened — I couldn't get a job to save my life. There were a few offers, but th…”— Rita Moreno, npr.org