• Interviews

Norman Lear and Rita Moreno: “One Day at a Time”

It’s not every day that you meet not one but two true entertainment legends. We had just that chance when we spoke to Norman Lear whose shows have collectively amassed 38 Nominations and 11 Golden Globes and Rita Moreno, herself thrice nominated and a Globe winner for West Side Story – the role which would also make her the first Latina actress to earn an Academy Award. The two are working together again on the reboot of the multi-nominated sitcom One Day At A Time. The new version, streamed on Netflix, features a Latino family headed by a Cuban American single mother and army veteran (Justina Machado). Rita Moreno plays her feisty Cuban mother and grandmother to her children and at 86 Ms. Moreno is simply astonishing for vitality, wit, charm and skill – on and off the set. Of course, the same must be said of Mr. Lear – 10 years her senior and sharp as a tack. This is not news to us at the HFPA, who had the honor of having him as a guest on our TV Game Changers Panel last Fall. Both spoke to Gabriel Lerman and Mirai Konishi about life, comedy and television and how they’re all best taken One Day at a Time.