Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez was born to Lydia Perez (a merchant marine) in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She is Puerto Rican. Rosie attended Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Queens, New York and then enrolled in Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez, who was in her sophomore year of college and was planning to move to New York. Her departure was a celebration by her classmates. When Spike Lee proposed that she take part in his movie Do the Right Thing (1989), she accepted. It was her first big acting job. Then she was nominated to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her part as Carla Rodrigo (Peter Weir’s Fearless, 1993). (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 was subjected to. They would take me out for lunch and ask, "Can I go and learn lessons to lessen my accent?" Also, "When you're on a talk show, could you not not be humorous and loud?". My peers gave me a lot of criticism about my voice, and I tried. It was my voice that I was not willing to alter. My octaves fell when I got older, thanks to God. It's about pushing past your fears. Boxing is about fighting for your rights. Floyd Mayweather could be punched or swung clean across his middle and he'd not hesitate. I can understand what he's doing. [Who talked about Don Cornelius watching her danceand commenting on her dance]: Don Cornelius did not want to see how I really danced . I was dancing hip-hop and it was unfamiliar to the people of California. They knew nothing about hip-hop dance, and only had a basic understanding of locking and popping. Don was like, "No. You're a girl." I thought, "What? It's really bizarre. This is really weird.