Rita Moreno
I'm one of those performers who has done just about everything except juggle, and I'm working on that.
I'm not afraid of color. I like color.
I started dancing almost before I could walk.
My grandkids are everything to me. For me, family is all!
I should be a representative for AARP!
Maybe it's my age, but I know I look good, so I'm not going to look like another person suddenly because I don't have makeup on - same hair, same person.
The one thing I really learned, and learned well, in group therapy was that you don't die if someone doesn't like you.
I've always believed that I had talent, even when I felt like a very inferior sort of person, which I spent a lot of time living my life feeling that I wasn't worthy.
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.
Oh, I think Scarlett Johansson is a terrific actress. I think she's just marvelous.
Actors very often are people who think it's always about 'me,' and I can see why! No one else is going to support you or say, 'Gosh, I'm sorry about that,' or, 'Here, let me give you a job.' It doesn't happen that way.
I've been neurotic in my life; I've had neurotic relationships with men. What else is new? But you really have to learn to be resilient - able to bounce back, pick yourself up, and just keep moving.
I wore so much rubber when I was at MGM, I bumped into the wall once, and I ricocheted.
I was determined that with perseverance and faith, at some point, someone would say, 'This girl has talent,' and would cast me in something meaningful.
If I get a hangnail, I don't dare complain! Life is good. I wake up humming.
I am the happiest Hispanic I've ever met. Truly.
The thing I get the most that I really love is that people don't so much mention films I've been in or shows I've been in as they say, instead, 'I love you. I just love your perseverance.' That really pleases me.
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 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.
There is something about sex that always brings out the funny in me. I think it's because we make such fools of ourselves over it.
'LIFE Magazine' decided to do a story about a young actress in Hollywood in 1954. And I made the cover. And I remember that the fellow who was doing the story on me said, 'Listen, kid, I just want you to know, if Eisenhower gets a cold, you're off the cover.'
If you're going to make black movies only about black people, that's as bad as white movies only about white people.
A lot of young Latino actors have said to me, 'Why can't we get an Oscar? Why can't we be nominated?' And the terrible truth is that if you don't get the right parts, you're not going to be. Are you going to get an Oscar nomination for one of those Judd Apatow movies? Not likely, no matter what nationality you are.
I love Hallmark movies because they make movies that you don't see anymore... and at a time when there is so much evil in the world, it's kind of nice to be able to retreat to something like a Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.
Smell the roses. Smell the coffee. Whatever it is that makes you happy.
I am able to get up and dust myself off and keep moving forward. I'm very stubborn.
Arrogance - I have very little tolerance for that.
I'm trying as hard as I can to keep pushing the boundaries of what a woman is capable of doing. And it turns out there's a lot we can do. There's a lot we can speak about.
No one's going to tell me how to make my own choices. For too many years, everybody told me what to say and what to do and how to be.
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.
I'm a person who perseveres. You know, you fall down, you get up.
Beyonce moves a lot. She's astonishing, dances and sings at the same time. She is buff.
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 have stamina, and I have energy.
Actually, my true name is Rosa Dolores Alverio. And then I became Rosita Moreno when a stepfather stepped in. And when I got to MGM studios, which was my first film contract, they just thought that Rosita wasn't a good name, and they changed it to Rita. And yes, it was their idea.
I was not treated like a serious young actress, and that was very hard. It sent me into psychotherapy, which is one of the smartest things I ever did. It taught me that I had to find value in myself.
Actors very often are people who think it's always about 'me,' and I can see why! No one else is going to support you or say, 'Gosh, I'm sorry about that,' or, 'Here, let me give you a job.' It doesn't happen that way. You can see why performers get very self-absorbed.
There are some fabulous treasures of photos of me during the early days of my career; there are these pin-up photos that make me laugh: I look like the poor man's Maria Montez. But there are some I look at, and I didn't realize how sexy I looked back then.
I had a very poor image of myself because I believed too much of the people around me when I was very young.
I am a woman of the moment.
I think Mike Nichols is brilliant, but I think Jerry Robbins was a genius.
Mellowing has never done much for me. You need to keep moving.
I grew up as a child who felt she was very inferior to everyone else.
All my life, I faced sexism and racism and then, when I hit 40, ageism.
'Revolutionary Road' with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet absolutely destroys me. They were both so wonderful in it.
My first American experience was in the harbor of New York City when I saw that amazing big, tall lady. I remember thinking, 'Oh my goodness, a lady runs this country.'
I think it's important to be reminded that that's what this country is comprised of - people from other countries.
Let's face it. How often do you see an Asian face in films and television? They are practically invisible. Now and then, you will get one, and, interestingly, he gets the role of a scientist. Isn't that interesting?
My idol when I was a kid was Elizabeth Taylor.