Rita Moreno reveals she had to dumb down her dancing for ‘80 for Brady’

Rita Moreno reveals she had to dumb down her dancing for ‘80 for Brady’

Rita Moreno is still a dancing queen.

The Oscar-winning actress revealed Saturday that she had to tone down her dancing for a musical sequence in her film “80 for Brady,” reports Entertainment Weekly.

Moreno, who appeared in iconic musicals such as “The King and I” and “The Electric Company” — and was the original Anita in the 1961 film version of “West Side Story” — said that it was a challenge.

“I was trying to find a way to not dance well,” said the EGOT winner. “I was dancing down. Because the first thing I ran into when we realized we had to do this little dance was that everybody, to the woman, said, ‘Oh, my God, but you’re the dancer.’ And they wouldn’t stop with that.”

According to Moreno, Sally Field was horrified that her co-star tried to look worse.

“I just wanted to dance next to Rita for once in my life,” said Field. “It was so good to be standing next to you, and all this time, you were dancing down.”

“Sally is fighting to dance next to Rita and keep up with her and thinking, ‘I’m keeping up with Rita.’ And Rita was trying to dance badly,” laughed Jane Fonda, 85.


The Oscar-winning actress revealed Saturday that she had to tone down her dancing for a musical sequence in her film
The Oscar-winning actress revealed Saturday that she had to tone down her dancing for a musical sequence in her film “80 for Brady.”Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures via AP
“I was trying to find a way to not dance well,” said the EGOT winner.Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures via AP

The scene in question also features Broadway icon Billy Porter as the choreographer attempting to help the four friends get into the 2017 Super Bowl.

“It really was too many counts,” said Moreno.

The film — which was inspired by a true story — follows four friends (played by Field, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin and Fonda) and their pilgrimage to 2017’s Super Bowl LI in hopes of witnessing a Patriots victory.

“80 for Brady” also stars Porter, Guy Fieri, former Patriots tight end Ron Gronkowski and and recently-retired quarterback Tom Brady.

The film touched down in theaters on Feb. 3