Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez was the daughter of Lydia Perez, a merchant marine and Ismael Serano. She was born in Bushwick Brooklyn, New York City. She is Puerto Rican. Rosie was educated at Grover Cleveland High School, Ridgewood, Queens, New York. Then she began her studies at Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez was in her sophomore year of college and about to move back to New York from Los Angeles. Her friends had invited her to a going-away party. She accepted the offer of Spike Lee to appear in his film Do the Right Thing (1989). This was her first major role as an actor. She was then nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Carla Rodrigo (Peter Weir’s Fearless 1993). (She lost to Anna Paquin for The Piano (1993).) The Latin community was the root of most of my criticism early in my career. They would take me out to lunch and ask, "Can I go and take some lessons to reduce my accent?" Or, "When it's a talk show, how can you not be funny? People were so critical of my voice, they dealt me a lot to be angry about. It was my speech that I was not willing to alter. As I grew older the octaves fell, thank God. Boxing is about fighting your fears. It's about staying strong. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. A straight shot into his middle. He's not blinking. And I can understand what he's doing. Who spoke of Don Cornelius watching her dancing]: Don Cornelius didn't want to watch me dance - I was dancing hip hop that was unfamiliar to Californians. They were only aware of locking and popping, therefore they were not keen on hip-hop dancing. Don was thinking, "No, no, no. You're one of us. I thought, What? It's very bizarre. It was really weird.