Legendary EGOT actress Rita Moreno is celebrating her 92nd birthday – which falls on Monday (Dec. 11). It’s an accomplishment she’s extremely proud of and one she wants to celebrate in a big way. While that wouldn’t have been a problem in years past, this year is a bit different.
That’s because the West Side Story actress recently moved from a large home in Berkeley Hills (a home she referred to as a ‘party home’) to a much smaller condominium. While she adores her new place and is embracing her new life there, she admits it’s too small to accommodate her ‘fabulous’ birthday parties.
“Here’s the problem now: I have a condo that I absolutely adore. It’s beautiful, but it won’t hold all of the people that I have for my birthday, because I always have fabulous birthdays,” Moreno said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE magazine – later adding that her last birthday party had 80 guests.
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Rita Moreno described turning 92 years old as a ‘very big deal,’ which is why she was so conflicted about the party in the first place. “What are we going to do? Because I definitely want to celebrate 92. My God, that’s pretty good!” she said to her daughter, Fernanda Luisa Gordon. Don’t worry, she has a plan now.
Instead of inviting 80+ people to one birthday party, she’s thinking of hosting 2-3 birthday parties at her condo and breaking the guests up that way. It might sound a bit egotistical and conceited, but she swears she’s not doing it out of vanity – in fact, she would prefer to have one big party (but that won’t happen).
Her birthday isn’t the only thing worth celebrating this time of year. Not only is it the holiday season, but she was recently cast in the new Family Switch film starring Ed Helms and Jennifer Garner. The movie was released on November 30 on Netflix and is similar to 2003’s Freaky Friday, but with the whole family.
Moreno says she was immediately sold on the project the moment she read the script and enjoyed filming it earlier this year. She described Helms as ‘extremely funny’ and Garner as ‘everything that she seems to be.’ And even if she was given the opportunity, Moreno says she wouldn’t switch bodies with anyone!
Rita Moreno Making New Friends at 92!
Also in the interview, Rita Moreno opened up about the moment she realized she was lonely and what she did to encourage herself to meet new people. It was actually her daughter, Fernanda, who confronted Rita about the changes in her behavior – something she never would’ve realized about herself otherwise.
“I didn’t know what was wrong. I really didn’t understand what was happening. I remember thinking, ‘I can’t go on like this.’ I’m in the most beautiful apartment in the world as far as I’m concerned, and this is happening. Why is this happening?” Moreno said – so she decided to go out and do something about it.
She recalled going to the supermarket one day and running into a woman whom she saw there often – she described the woman as ‘lovely.’ She ended up chatting with the woman and asked her if she wanted to go out to lunch – which naturally caught the woman by surprise (she recognized Rita immediately).
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They went out to lunch and have been friends ever since. She also made several friends in the building she lives in – sparking a new jolt of energy in her life. Looks like she’ll have a couple of new friends to invite to her birthday party – don’t forget, she’s turning 92 years old on Monday, December 11th!
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