Rita Moreno has been an A-list actress for over 60 years, and she’s been working for much longer than that! After getting her start as a theater actress in the 1940s, Rita, 92, became a breakout star when she appeared in West Side Story in 1961. Her performance as Anita earned her the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, but over the years, she’s won many awards to make her one of the few EGOT winners.
While some of her best-known work was many years ago, Rita has remained consistent in appearing in movies and TV shows, even as she enters her 90s. Even though many fans wonder if she’ll ever throw in the towel and retire, the actress has promised to keep on acting for as long as she can, including during an interview earlier in December 2023. Find out more about what Rita has said about retiring here!
What Are Rita’s Most Recent Roles?
While Rita has certainly earned a break at 92, she has seemingly not really slowed down the pace of her acting roles even in more recent years. In 2023 alone, she appeared in five different projects. Her latest role was as Angelica in the holiday comedy Family Switch, but she also had parts in 80 For Brady, Fast X, an episode of Lopez vs. Lopez, and 10 episodes of Princess Power.
Rita Says She’s ‘in Her Prime’
Rita shrugged off the idea of leaving acting during an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the premiere of Family Switch in December 2023. She cited her love of the game for why she’s going to keep acting as long as possible. “You know, I love what I do. Why on earth would I want to leave what I love?” she told the outlet. “So that’s what I plan to do. Unless I can’t or until I can’t.”
Rita Says She Won’t Retire Unless She ‘Can’t Walk’
The recent interview isn’t the first time that Rita has said that she won’t retire. She was asked about possibly stepping away in a September 2021 interview with Variety. She showed that she wouldn’t let anything get between her and her work. “The only way I can retire is if I can’t walk. And even then, there’s always a wheelchair — or roller skates,” she said.
Does Rita Have Any Upcoming Roles?
While Rita doesn’t currently have any new projects listed on her IMDb profile, she did say that there were things in the works for 2024 in the above-mentioned ET interview. “I can’t talk about it yet, okay?” she told the outlet. It seems we’ll just have to wait and see.