Rita Moreno Welcomes 95th Birthday with a Roast, Says She Doesn't Need Pity
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- Rita Moreno akan merayakan ulang tahunnya yang ke-95 pada Desember mendatang dengan jamuan makan malam bersama sahabat, bukan pesta mewah.
- Ia mengaku senang menjadi bahan lelucon dan roast, menegaskan bahwa pencapaian kariernya murni hasil kerja keras tanpa bantuan orang lain.
- Kedekatan dengan putrinya, Fernanda, menjadi sorotan karena mereka terbuka membicarakan usia dan kematian.
Rita Moreno does not want her 95th birthday celebration this December to be stiff. The legendary West Side Story actress is instead looking forward to the moment when she becomes the target of jokes and jabs from her close friends. She has planned a dinner with close relatives, and according to her, being the butt of the joke is part of the fun.
“We're going to have a dinner and I'm sure people will insult me all night,” Moreno told E! News, as quoted from an exclusive interview. She stressed that she will “really” be roasted by her friends. “Why not? They can do whatever they want. It's a fun way to celebrate. So, I can't wait,” she added.
At nearly a century old, Moreno remains firm in her principle that her success did not come from other people's help. “Who helped me? No one. If someone had helped, maybe I could have gone further than this. I don't say it with bitterness, but with firmness, because I deserve it and I achieved it myself,” she said.
Moreno also spoke about her relationship with her daughter, Fernanda, born from her marriage to the late Leonard Gordon. She admitted to being very open about life's transience. “I'm very lucky to know her so well. We're very honest, and our conversations can be very serious and intimate. There are times when I really need her wisdom, more often than you'd think now that I'm 92,” she told People.
“I think when parents get older, children have to start thinking, ‘Someday this will end.’ It's not something we sit down and discuss, but I know she thinks about it. I think we're both quite brave. We're very, very honest with each other.”
— Rita Moreno, on her relationship with her daughter
Fernanda added that their closeness often makes others envious. “We both love enjoying life, we go out and do things we like. We shop and travel together,” she said. “Many people see our closeness and say, ‘I wish I could have that with my mother!’”
For the Indonesian public, Moreno's story can be a mirror of how senior celebrities in the country make sense of old age. In Indonesia, legendary actors and actresses such as Rima Melati or the late Mieke Wijaya are also known to have close relationships with their children, though they rarely discuss it openly in the media. Moreno's openness about death and mother-daughter relations may still be considered taboo in some Indonesian families, but it actually shows that such discussions can strengthen bonds.
Moreno, who also starred in Fast X, remains active in the entertainment industry despite no longer being young. She is one of the few artists to achieve EGOT—Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony—thanks to her talent on stage, on the big screen, and in music. That achievement was not easy to attain, especially for a Latina in Hollywood in the 1950s and 60s who often faced racial stereotypes.
With her birthday celebration only months away, the public awaits whether Moreno will once again make a surprising statement or simply enjoy a night full of laughter with close friends. What is clear is that she has no intention of changing her lifestyle: still outspoken, independent, and celebrating life in her own way.
