Rita Moreno is best known for her role as Anita in the 1961 version of West Side Story.
The 92 years old actress told People Magazine she had a conversation with Michael Jackson who told her he loved her performance in the movie.
“He told me one day that I was a huge favorite of his, and he said, ‘I’ve always loved your dancing, and I copied some of the steps,’ and sure enough, when I saw ‘Thriller,’ I saw some of the steps from ‘America.’”
In the musical, she performs with a team of dancers for the song called “America”.
She continues “Oh he loved, he loved ‘America,'”
“He just loved the choreography. He was influenced by Jerome Robbins,” the actress said of the late dancer and choreographer. “Oh, very much. Very much.”
You can see Rita’s performance in “America” here:
And here, just because we all love it, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”:
