Supreme Court justices, with their intimidating black robes and lifelong judicial power, and Old Hollywood royalty, with their natural good looks and mounds of money, can seem so far removed from regular Joes and Jills like us. That is...until associate justice Sonia Sotomayor and Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (whew!) award-winner Rita Moreno sat down together at Shakespeare Theatre’s Harman Hall on Monday for a very candid onstage conversation.
Two inspiring, albeit fearsome, ladies to behold, they dished on everything, from moms and careers to life and love (one of these ladies even had a steamy love affair with Marlon Brando), in front a crowd of about 800 people. Their answers? Far from what you expect — they were not shy to admit they made their fair share of mistakes.
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Though the event — sponsored by the National Hispana Leadership Institute and the Eva Longoria Foundation — was closed off to reporters that might "inhibit candor or distract from the natural give-and-take," according to the Washington Post, we were able to piece together the best quotes — and advice — of the night, thanks to one of our favorite news sources, Twitter.
Sotomayor on faking it 'til you make it:
#Sotomayor: when you're doing something u don't think u can do, don't play u at that moment- play someone u admire, more than u r
— Rebecca Acuna (@racunatx) March 11, 2013
On Latino moms:
Justice #Sotomayor & Actress Rita Moreno remind us how #Latina moms sound when they say "beach" & "sheets" #latism twitter.com/Andrea_Delgado…
— Andrea Delgado (@Andrea_Delgado7) March 12, 2013
Sotomayor on love:
#Sotomayor on real talk w a friend "Ay Sonia, lust is one thing, love is another"
— Rebecca Acuna (@racunatx) March 11, 2013
Sotomayor on life:
#sotomayor: I'm an ordinary person who has been blessed w an extraordinary set of circumstances #latinas
— Rebecca Acuna (@racunatx) March 11, 2013
Moreno on life:
@rita Moreno"I'm raucous, and a raucous Puerto Rican, I like to sing, dance, drink, & get buzzed!"..at 81 yrs. young! #latinapower #nhli
— Tonija Hope Navas (@THopeNavas) March 11, 2013
See, they are just like us. Well, almost — not all of us can have passionate affairs with Marlon Brando. Says the West Side Story actress: "We were obsessed with each other." We were, too, Rita...in a love-from-afar, bed-poster kind of way. (Washington Post)
Photo: Courtesy of Washington Post.