Rita Moreno made a huge impression as Anita in "West Side Story," and she was inspired by the character. Anita was strong, sexy, and self-assured, which was different than how Moreno saw herself. Anita represented a woman who Moreno admired and wanted to be like, she told The Guardian. She was anything but weak and subservient, which is how Moreno saw herself at the time.
Moreno did such a good job in the film that she won an Academy Award for her role. This achievement gave her confidence, and she thought her career was ready to flourish. Disappointingly, things did not go as planned.
Moreno ended up on a seven-year hiatus. She chose to step back because she wasn't offered any good roles. Instead, casting directors wanted her to appear in projects involving gangs that weren't as good as "West Side Story," and she was baffled. "It broke my heart," she revealed. She kept waiting for better opportunities to come along, but they never did, which she described as "horrific." And the typecasting continued even when she was in her 60s — she was offered the role of a Mexican brothel madam. She told ET that she won numerous acting accolades but she was shocked that she was still being stereotyped. She called the entire experience humiliating.
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