Quotes from Rita Moreno

My idol when I was a kid was Elizabeth Taylor.

Lupe Velez was way before me; Dolores Del Rio was way before me, so I had no one. So the only one I could think of that I identified with was this gorgeous creature named Elizabeth Taylor, so she became my role model.

I'm an afternoon tea maven. I can tell you who has the best tea in every country.

Bigger than life is not difficult for me. I am bigger than life.

Smell the roses. Smell the coffee. Whatever it is that makes you happy.

Any character who had dark skin, I got all those parts. I could play a Polynesian, East Indian princess, whatever.

When I was girl, you could still get certain jobs if you didn't have a diploma.

I call myself the hardware shelf. There's a lot of awards and honors there. And I have earned that. I didn't ask for it, I didn't beg for it, I didn't pay for it. I earned that. People see the accomplishments - but it's good to remind people that so much strife and labor and tears and heartbreak came before that, that it really is earned.

When I was in my teens and into my early 20s, I had acne. I used to get those big purple jobs, but not a lot of them, thank goodness, because you really couldn't see them in the films that I did.

If you're in a business where Latinos only play Indian maidens and what I call 'Conchita Lolita' parts - the little fiery spitfires - you do what you have to do.

'America' took at least five days of actual filming.

I was the artsy one, and my husband took care of all our finances. It was the Latino way - the man is in charge of the money.

Oh, I think Scarlett Johansson is a terrific actress. I think she's just marvelous.

I'm 81 and I'm in the prime of my life.

Certain roles for older women are aimed at certain older actresses - I'm not one of those. I've been offered any number of Puerto Rican grandmas that I've turned down.

I'm a raucous Puerto Rican!

I was dancing for my grandpa from the time I was 4 or 5 years old in Puerto Rico.

My mother's feeling about men in general were always a bit of a mystery to me. She had difficulties in Puerto Rico with the men in her life. Her brothers abused her. It's very easy to be judgmental, but more often than not, there are mitigating circumstances, and children are not usually aware of those.

When I was nominated for the Oscar, I was absolutely positive that Judy Garland would win for 'Judgment at Nuremberg,' and then they call my name, and I was absolutely paralyzed. And I remember walking down to the stage and saying to myself, 'Don't run. It's not dignified.'

I just love details; I love trying to make the reader smell what I was smelling at the time and see what I was seeing. Textures, too - all that kind of stuff is probably my strong suit as far as my writing goes, I would say.

I played a Siamese girl from Thailand. I played an Arabian girl. I did a lot of American Indians. I never, ever was able to do a part without assuming some kind of accent.

I live in the moment. The moment is the most important thing. That's my entire philosophy: Make the best of the good moments.

I watch 'Singin' in the Rain' at least once a year with my grandchildren, and they just adore it.

Being in service and being involved in something that is greater than you is what makes a person complete and whole. The very first thing I ever did in terms of activism was for an anti-atom bomb rally.