I don't believe I was jinxed or hexed by winning an Academy Award in my first picture, 'West Side Story.'
Whether it's Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire or 'West Side Story,' see it on the big screen. That's the way we should appreciate it.
It sounds corny to say, but we're like a family. That experience for all of us really created a bond... The 'West Side Story' experience, it really is a family. There's a closeness that has continued.
If you buy a lottery ticket, you really don't expect to win. However, if you do win, it's a different story. The same is true about getting an Oscar. Of course I knew I was nominated, but I never expected my name to be called. When it was, I'm still at a loss to describe the feelings that I experienced.
I can go into any working circumstance and, simply, I'm prepared to deal with the work. It was a long, hard lesson I learned.
After I finished working on the movie, I went back into the show again playing Riff, so it was an incredible time because I loved playing Riff in the theater and, of course, I loved playing Bernardo in the film. We had such a really beautiful time. We knew we were working on something of quality.
I made movies with some very nice people, experienced actors.
I don't regret 'West Side Story' one bit. It was an incredible movie full of young people with amazing rapport.
The first thing that was intimidating was when I started rehearsing to play Riff in the London company. That first day of rehearsal, I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm never going to learn this. I'm too slow.'
Her imagination is rich and vibrant. I have a great love and respect for Rita.
It's kind of wild and wonderful that 'West Side Story' continues to have a life after all these years. And when you see young people who are really engrossed by this film, that's so beautiful.
