Rita Moreno already has an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony to her name. She’s one of just 21 individuals to achieve EGOT status, but as of Saturday night, the 92-year-old triple threat has a new accolade: the Academy Museum’s Icon award. She was presented with the honor at the ultra-star-studded Academy Gala this weekend by none other than Steven Spielberg, who not only directed her in his 2021 adaptation of West Side Story but has also been a lucky guest at Moreno’s dinner parties (where she serves her famous mofongo).
Ahead of the big night, Vogue caught up with Moreno just before she slipped into her white Dior tuxedo at her suite in the Beverly Hills Hotel. “I told my stylist, Rebecca Ramsey, ‘I really would love not to wear a gown,’” Moreno explains. “Somehow, the night seemed to call for a pantsuit.” As for the Dior suit chosen? “I think it’s so effing chic!” More from the conversation below.
Vogue: Congratulations on your big night! How are you feeling?
Moreno: I’m sitting in a giant bed, and I feel marvelous. I’m working on my acceptance speech right now.
How’s it coming along?
Well, it’s going to be funny. I always like to be amusing when I can—there’s always room for amusement. I’m going to surprise a couple of people and just show how grateful I am—because indeed I am. I’m not only grateful but absolutely surprised. There always has to be one thing you say that is memorable, and I have that sentence—you’ll know instantly what it is!
I can’t wait to hear it!
You know, the fact that I’m about to be 93….
It’s unbelievable, Rita!
You know what, it sure as hell is. I’m amazed.
What will you be wearing tonight? How did you decide on your look?
I’m working with Rebecca [Ramsey]. She found me that incredible gown I wore last year at the Oscars. That’s one of the most beautiful gowns I have ever seen or worn. I just loved it. And it was fun wearing the black wig too. Somebody said I looked like Betty Boop! They were absolutely right. So I said to my stylist, ‘I really would love not to wear a gown.’ Everyone wears gowns all the time, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And there are gorgeous ones to be had. But I said, somehow, this seems to call for a pantsuit. I would love a white tux or a red one. And she almost immediately sent me a picture of this beautiful, unusual-looking tux from Dior.
Tell me about it.
You can look it up, actually. It was on the runway. It’s so unusual and very different—it’s not weird. It’s just completely rethought. That’s the way to think of it. It’s a rethought classic white tux. I’m so lucky it fit me so well. Everything’s always big at some point, but it absolutely suits me. It’s the perfect jacket, let’s say, for a petite woman. It is so in proportion. And the best part, to me—and I think it’s so effing chic—is that I’m wearing black shoes! That’s how they showed it on the runway. I’m wearing a white tux and black shoes. What do you call those shoes? They have a strap….
Slingbacks?
Slingingbacks. Yeah. I couldn’t think of the word. I can’t think of nouns. This is what happens at my age, near 93. Nouns are absolutely killing me—it drives me crazy. Anyway, you’ll see them. Just the fact that I’m wearing a black shoe with a white tux—it’s like the height of snobby chic. It’s supposed to be white or silver, but it’s not.
Have you worn much Dior in your life?
Very little. This is, as far as I can discern and remember, probably the first Dior I’ve ever worn.
What about pantsuits and tuxedo suits for black-tie events? Have you done much of that?
No, because everybody else has done it! That’s why I always try to pick something really unusual, and that’s why my stylist is perfect for me because she knows what I like. She knows I like chic. And I have developed—without my knowing it, by the way—a reputation for surprising people on the red carpet.
Yes, when I first met you, you had tinsel streaks in your hair!
Isn’t that beautiful? I love that. I still have a wig that has tinsel in my hair. The hair’s going be very different than it’s been—it’s very tousled this time. Short and tousled.
What about maybe your accessories tonight?
The handbag is being brought to me later, so I don’t know what that’s going to look like, but it should be very simple. Black would be fun, simply because it’s a white tux. What else? Jewelry is going to be very simple. The earrings are going to be simple diamonds, of course. I mean, what Puerto Rican girl worth her salt wouldn’t wear diamonds on her ears after all! But they’re going be kind of subtle—it’s not going to be showy, flowing, swinging earrings. It’s probably going to be diamond buttons.
Tell me about your getting-ready routine, if you have one. Have you scheduled anything beyond getting ready for today?
I’m not doing a thing except watching the news. I’m a newshound. I mean, you have to be made of certain stuff to watch the news these days, and I am made of that stuff. But you can hear a lot of groaning coming from my living room when the news is on—a lot of “Oh God!” and a lot of others that you can’t print. But back to tonight, I’ll tell you what’s really special to me: the fact that my family’s going to be with me. My entire family, two grandsons, one of whom actually is insanely handsome—he’s really tall and wears clothing like a bastard! The other is younger and really beautiful.
Will your family be getting ready with you?
No, but we’re getting a big car. Instead of a limo, we’re going to do one of those big old cars.
Have you ever been to the Academy Gala?
I’ve never been to this, so I am beyond thrilled and beyond surprised. I just can’t believe it!
