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. Rosie is Puerto Rican. Rosie graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood in Queens, New York. She then enrolled at Los Angeles City College. Rosie Perez was in her second year of college and just about to move back to New York from Los Angeles. Her friends had thrown her a party to celebrate. She accepted the offer of Spike Lee to join his film Do the Right Thing (1989). This was her first acting experience in a major role. In Peter Weir's Fearless (1993) she played the supporting character Carla Rodrigo, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Artistress. (She lost to Anna Paquin for The Piano (1993).) Early in my career, my Latin community was the source of my most of the negative feedback I received. They would take me out to lunch and ask me, "Can you go and learn how to reduce your accent?". Or, "When it's a talk show, how could you not be funny? My voice was a constant source of criticism. I tried to change it. It was my speech that I was not willing to alter. My octaves fell when I got older, I am grateful for that. It's a matter of pushing past your fears. It's more about battling yourself. Floyd Mayweather could be punched, like a clean shot across his middle, and he wouldn’t hesitate. It's a good thing I understand what he's doing. (Who talked about Don Cornelius watching her dancingand observing her dancing]: Don Cornelius didn't want to see me dance - I was performing hip hop which was something that was not known to Californians. They were only comfortable with popping and locking. So hip-hop dance was not something they would like to learn. Don was just like "No, no. You're an attractive girl. I was like"What? This is a bit bizarre. Then I was required to dance in high heels, and I had never danced in high heels before. I had this little tiny short dressthat's going up my stomach and I'm like Oh my God