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The winner of the EGOT will play a new character, Valentina, and will be executive producer of the project.
Willy Sanjuan / Invision / AP / REX / Shutterstock
Rita Moreno joined the cast of Steven Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story", based on the 1961 Oscar-winning film and the 1957 Broadway musical Deadline. The original show was written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Moreno played the role of Anita in the original film, succeeding Chita Rivera, who created the role on Broadway. Moreno will also be executive producer of the Spielberg remake.
Moreno will play a new character named Valentina, an enlarged and expanded version of Doc, who owns the corner store where Tony works.
"Never in my wildest dreams have I seen this fundamental work revisited," Moreno told Deadline. "And being invited by Steven Spielberg to participate is simply exciting! Then work with the brilliant playwright Tony Kushner – what a wonderful stew! I tingle! "
This is a marked change from the comments she made earlier this fall. When asked if she would make an appearance in Spielberg's adaptation, Moreno said, "It would be strange," saying to EW: "I think that would be distracting. No, no, no, I have no role to play. She also expressed doubts that Lincoln's screenwriter, Tony Kushner, is the right choice for writing a new script. "Tony Kushner, I'm nervous," she said. "I get nervous because you can not be so gritty."
"West Side Story" is a Spielberg pbadion project for over 30 years, and cites this project as one of his favorite films. "From our first discussions, we wanted to include Rita Moreno in our production," Spielberg told Deadline. "Her Anita is one of the greatest musical performances ever filmed and one of my favorites. We have created an original role for her and we are very pleased that Rita brings her extraordinary gifts as an actress, as well as her deep understanding of 'West Side Story' in this production as an executive producer. "
Spielberg will work in partnership with 20th Century Fox and MGM for the remake, which also called "Baby Driver" star Ansel Elgort to play Tony. The filming of "West Side Story" is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2019.
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