Rita Moreno Praises Previously Working with ‘Big Boy’ Tom Brady: ‘He’s Really Handsome, Terrific Manners’ (Exclusive)

Rita Moreno can’t get enough of former big screen costar Tom Brady!

The celebrated actress, 92, exclusively tells PEOPLE how much she adores the Super Bowl champion during a conversation at the WNET Group Gala in her honor at Edison Ballroom in New York City on Tuesday, May 7.

“He’s gorgeous, he looks like a very big boy. He’s really handsome,” Moreno tells PEOPLE of the retired NFL star. “Terrific manners. You know, his wife may not think so. I’m not his wife.”

The unlikely duo collaborated in 2023 for the 80 For Brady comedy, which starred the EGOT winner alongside Sally Field, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

The film, which is based on a true story, follows four best friends who embark on a trip to see Brady play in the 2017 Super Bowl, the year the quarterback led the New England Patriots to a victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Brady appears in the movie alongside his former Patriots teammates Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman.

Meanwhile, in the fall of 2022, Brady, 46, shared with PEOPLE nothing but kind words about the four actresses. “The opportunity to work alongside these four amazingly talented women has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Ahead of her celebration at the WNET Group Gala, Moreno spoke with PEOPLE for this week’s issue and chatted about her storied career and unlikely friendships she made along the way — including Michael Jackson.

The Singin’ in the Rain actress shared that she had a conversation with the late King of Pop, in which he confessed that she was the inspiration behind one of his most notable dance routines.

“I’m always shocked when Michael — I love to tell the story,” she began.

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“He told me one day that I was a huge favorite of his, [in this] tiny little voice. 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.’ ”Moreno may be best known for her role as Anita in the 1961 version of West Side Story — a performance that scored her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Notably, in the musical, she does a dance performance with a team of dancers for the song “America.”

“He just loved the choreography. He was influenced by Jerome Robbins,” the actress said of Jackson. “Oh, very much. Very much.”