Our Best of ITT series continues with this episode from January 2017. Maria and Julio lead a discussion with legendary actress Rita Moreno about her star-turning role in “West Side Story” and her role in the reboot of Norman Lear’s classic television series, “One Day at a Time.” As they go behind the scenes of many of her most recognizable roles, both old and new, they get into issues of representation, accents, and race.

ITT Staff Picks: 

• Frances Negrón-Muntaner writes about Rita Moreno’s impact on the Puerto Rican community and on American culture as a whole, in this article for PBS. 

• Actor Antonio Banderas writes about his experience voicing the “Puss in Boots” character for almost two decades and how it changed his career and the industry as a whole, in this column for The Hollywood Reporter. 

• Raul A. Reyes writes about Raquel Welch’s complicated relationship with her Latina identity throughout her life and career as a Hollywood star in 1960s America, in this article for NBC News.