Rita Moreno has slammed critics of her provocative style.
Rita Moreno
The 89-year-old actress revealed she hated the sex symbol status she received in the 50s and has now claimed her tight dresses and makeup should never have warranted the unwanted attention she endured.
She told Yahoo News: "I would dress up in a very, very provocative way. I always wore tight, tight little dresses with my cute little bum. Too much makeup, usually. And the earrings and stuff.
"As the #MeToo movement would say right now: 'Well, f*** them! You can dress any damn way you please. You can wear as many loop earrings, and as low-cut a neck as you want, and that's also true."
However, the 'West Side Story' star didn't think to stand up for herself at the time as she believed that was how successful actresses were perceived.
She added: "The truth is, it never occurred to me not to withstand it. I figured, and I was right, that that was how Hollywood was run and how it functioned. And I just went with the flow, as they say, not happily."
What's more, Rita revealed she didn't have a role model when she was younger as there was no one who looked like her.
The Puerto Rico star said: "There was no such thing as a role model — not for children like me. There were no mentors for people like me. Everybody always says, 'Who supported you? Who helped you?' Nobody. That's how it was."
Now, Rita has paved the way for younger generations and is looking to make changes in Hollywood after the 'West Side Story' cast were given just one shade of makeup for the Hispanic actors.
She explained: "There were some people who said they were offended by some of the things they saw in the film. First of all, the makeup was kind of one color for the Hispanics, whereas Puerto Ricans are a mélange of French, Spanish Spain, Dutch and Taíno Indian, which is a copper color.
"I remember saying to my makeup man once on the original 'West Side Story,' 'Why do I have to wear such dark makeup? I'm not that color.'"
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