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On Tuesday’s episode of The Late Show, Rita Moreno spoke out against Lin-Manuel Miranda’s criticism, saying it “really annoys her.”
“It’s like you can’t do something right, it seems,” said the screen legend.
Moreno has worked with Miranda on her new documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go, which charts her journey from her humble beginnings in Puerto Rico to success in Broadway and Hollywood. The criticism you’re referring to relates to the lack of Afro-Latino representation at Warner Bros. In the Heights, the film adaptation of his popular Broadway musical, in which he served as composer, lyricist, producer, co-writer, and star.
“This is the guy who literally brought Latinos and Puerto Ricans to America. I couldn’t do that. I mean, I’d say I did, but I couldn’t,” Moreno told Stephen Colbert. “Lin Manuel did it, really alone, and I’m happy with the cut, and I’m proud that he made my documentary.”
Related Story New Hollywood Podcast: John M. Choo and Lin-Manuel Miranda Talk About the Journey and Impact of In the Heights
Colbert followed up his guest comments by asking about her exact position, as far as the controversy over In the Heights itself. “I’m simply saying, couldn’t you just wait a bit and leave him alone?” I noticed. “There are a lot of Puerto Rican people, who are also from Guatemala, who are black and also fair. We are all colors in Puerto Rico.
She said, “That’s the way things are, and it would be very nice if they didn’t come up with that and leave him alone, just for now. They’re really attacking the wrong person.”
Directed by John M. Choo, In the Heights focuses on Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), the sympathetic Bodega New York owner who saves every penny every day as he fantasizes and sings about a better life. In the movie, Miranda played Biraguero.
The Tony Award-winning Broadway star took to social media yesterday to acknowledge the controversy surrounding him, and to clarify his thoughts on it. He wrote, “I see the discussion about Afro-Latinx representation in our film this weekend, and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latinx community do not feel adequately represented within it, particularly among the main roles.” “I hear that without adequate dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work seems extracted from the community we wanted to represent with pride and joy.
“In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we failed,” Miranda continued. “I am really sorry.”
Check out Moreno’s conversation with Colbert about Miranda below.
Tonight: Rita Moreno comments on the controversy surrounding her friend Lin-Manuel Miranda and his movie In the Heights. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/4cQcvviaLf
– The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) June 16, 2021
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