Rita Moreno says there was a time she 'didn’t like being a Hispanic'

Rita Moreno is widely known for breaking down barriers for Latino performers in Hollywood, but the legendary actor revealed Monday that she did not always embrace her Hispanic identity.

Rita Moreno is widely known for breaking down barriers for Latino performers in Hollywood, but the legendary actor revealed Monday that she did not always embrace her Hispanic identity.

"For many years, I didn’t like being a Hispanic person,” Moreno, who is Puerto Rican, told "TODAY" show host Hoda Kotb while promoting her new film, “The Prank.” “It took a very long time to get over the feeling that I was an unworthy person, that I wasn’t pretty or that I was a Latina."

Moreno has previously opened up about her struggles overcoming her own insecurities after years of being typecast by major film and television studios as well as facing discrimination. She particularly details these challenges in her 2021 documentary, “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It."

When Kotb referenced some of these struggles during the interview, Moreno recalled being 5 years old and believing she had no value because some people made her feel othered.

Moreno said children are “tender” and susceptible to believing what others tell them. “When someone says that, you accept it."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rita-moreno-says-was-time-didnt-hispanic-rcna141696

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