Rita Moreno honored with SAG 'Lifetime Achievement' award

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Rita Moreno has been awarded the "Lifetime Achievement" award by the Screen Actors Guild at the SAG awards on Saturday night.

The very animated Moreno, 82, danced a quick circle around the stage before accepting the award from Morgan Freeman and exclaiming, "I'm so f****** thrilled!" (TV censors had their hands full on this occasion.)

Moreno then sang an excerpt from Frank Sinatra's "This is All I Ask."

As I approach the prime of my life
I find I have the time of my life
Learning to enjoy at my leisure
All the simple pleasures
And so I happily concede
This is all I ask
This is all I need

After the presentation, Moreno had more time to reflect.

"The difference between getting an Oscar for instance and having an honor like this tonight is that the Oscar is really meant for a performance in a specific film," Moreno told reporters in a press conference after receiving the award. "This ... I don't call it an 'award,' I call it an 'honor' because it's about a lifetime."

She explained her use of song in the accepting of the award.

"How do you in one minute, I was told I had one minute - and I thought 'Wait a minute, I'm Puerto Rican, I can't even say hello in one minute,'" Moreno said.

Moreno was asked to comment on the "uphill climb" Latinos face in the entertainment industry and whether she finds it surprising that it is still more difficult.

"I'm not surprised," Moreno said. "Because you know as long as you're going to have problems with immigration, and the reform of immigration, you're always going to have, in my lifetime it's always going to be a difficult ... the secret to me ... it's about persevering."

Moreno also went on to say that what made the event so special to her was that her daughter and grandchildren were able to see her being recognized.