'She Blazed the Trail.' Rachel Zegler on How Rita Moreno Influenced Her

To actor Rachel Zegler, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award winner Rita Moreno is more than an idol, she’s family. The 22-year-old star spoke candidly about her relationship with the 91-year-old Moreno during the TIME100 Next Gala 2023 in New York City on Tuesday, where emerging leaders were honored for their work across various fields.

Zegler highlighted how much Moreno—who worked with Zegler during her first film, the 2021 remake of the film Moreno had her breakout role in 60 years earlier—meant to her. “She’s been an idol to me and so many young Latinos everywhere,” Zegler said. “She blazed the trail for so many of us.”

Moreno was the first Latina to win an Academy Award, for her performance of Anita in the 1961 West Side Story; the second being Ariana DeBose, who reprised Moreno’s role in the 2021 remake.

Read More: ‘We Need To Be in the Room.’ West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose on Latino Representation in Film

Moreno, who TIME previously named Woman of the Year for 1961, wrote about Zegler for the TIME100 Next 2023 list, calling the young actor a triple threat and saying that she told Zegler she “sh-t a brick” the first time she heard her voice. It’s true, Zegler recounted. “The first thing she ever said to me was, when I heard you sing for the first time I sh-t a brick, so I was not surprised to see that that had made it,” Zegler said in an interview with TIME at the event honoring listees on Tuesday.

“I absolutely fell in love with her as a human being more than the incredible artist that she is. So she’s a triple threat,” Zegler added about Moreno, “being genuine, kind, and talented.”

The young actor said Moreno became a friend during the press tour of West Side Story, and their relationship has only expanded over time. The two women also starred on an episode of The Voice together.

“To have another Latina write that piece for me,” Zegler said of Moreno authoring her TIME100 Next entry, “and being a woman who came so far before me in this industry…She’s really the reason that I’m able to be on a list like that in the first place. Rita’s family, she’s the best.”

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