Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It

Discover how Moreno defied her humble upbringing and racism to become one of a select group of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winners. Explore her 70-year career with new interviews, clips of her iconic roles and scenes of the star on set today.

"I really was very often treated like a sex object." Rita Moreno recalls the sexism and power abuse she suffered at the hands of big Hollywood moguls.

Rita Moreno based her portrayal of Lydia on "One Day at a Time" off of her own mother. "She is my mom, that is my mom's accent."

Rita Moreno's first foray into social justice was attending the March on Washington with Martin Luther King, Jr. "I was there when he uttered the 'I Have a Dream' speech," she said. She continued to be a conscious activist throughout her career, fighting for Latine and women's rights.

"Latinos were sticking their heads out the window, screaming 'She did it, she did it!'" Rita Moreno fondly remembers the historic moment she received the Academy Award for Best Actress for "West Side Story."

Go behind the scenes of Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It to learn how Rita Moreno is a quintessential American success story.

Lin-Manuel Miranda describes discovering Rita Moreno and seeing "West Side Story" for the first time, and realizing it was about Puerto Rican New Yorkers. "It was a gamechanger."