Young Rita Moreno tried to imitate Elizabeth Taylor in her appearance, but when it came to hair, she maintained her cultural identity.
During the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Moreno, 89, spoke about his early years in Hollywood and Gene Kelly’s request to cut his hair for the role of Zelda Zanders in the 1952 film “Singin ‘in the Rain”.
“I did something so Latin because I was the most shy person in the world and said no”, Moreno, who is the subject of the documentary “Rita Moreno: just a girl who decided to try”.
“And he was really surprised because no one ever said no to Gene Kelly, and I was terrified of saying that.”
Kelly asked why and the Puerto Rican star said it went against her culture.
“Well, we don’t cut my hair where I live, we don’t do that,” she said.
Kelly “held on” and put on the red wig, which “touched” her because she required light makeup, when she was used to just being cast for dark-skinned papers that required an accent.
“I was playing a white paper,” she said, “and I was thrilled because I thought, ‘OK, this is the end of the other parts where I have to speak with accents and all that kind of stuff. Not so. “
During the chat, which also featured “Vila Sésamo” star Sonia Manzano, Morena also talked about being totally honest in her documentary, which meant not wearing makeup despite the presence of a camera.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” she joked. “I really am not. I’m kidding, but man, it’s shocking. It’s shocking – some of those scenes where I’m not wearing any makeup. But I thought I was in agreement with my promise to myself, and I wasn’t going to run to my room … to beautify myself. “
Moreno said he has what he would call a “classic actor’s face”, which means it “changes completely” with cosmetics.
“As I put on the makeup, I say to myself, ‘This is incredible. How do I do that?’ I was made for makeup, ”she said. “It is really fascinating for me.”