After watching Moreno’s documentary,which premieres on June 18, it’s clear that Moreno has faced worse over the course of her 89 years than an angry Twitter mob.
Moreno credits therapy with helping her overcome these regrets and demons and press on. “It’s probably the very, very best thing I did for myself,” she says, talking about her decision to see a psychotherapist. “I give full credit to the man who helped me through all this morass that I experienced in my life… He’s the guy who eventually got myself to say,Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It
She found a way out in the part that would win her the Oscar for best supporting actress. “The ultimate role model became, to my surprise, Anita in, a Hispanic girl who respected herself and had a sense of dignity about herself. I had never played a Hispanic girl who had those qualities, so Anita—very late in the day—literally became my role model,” she says.
“I couldn’t get a job,” she recalls, mystified. “I had just won the Oscar and the Golden Globe, and that didn’t help anything because I could not get a movie that didn’t have something to do with gangsters or gangs on a much lesser scale thanFor all of the heartbreak, Moreno’s effervescent spirit shines through, both in the documentary and during our phone call.
Still stunning after all these years.