Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez was born to Lydia Perez (a merchant marine) in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Rosie is Puerto Rican. Rosie was educated at Grover Cleveland High School, Ridgewood, Queens, New York. Then she attended Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez was just starting her second year in college and was scheduled to return to New York. Her friends had given her celebrations. She accepted the offer of Spike Lee to work in his film Do the Right Thing (1989). This was her first major acting role. She went on play the supporting character of Carla Rodrigo in Peter Weir's Fearless (1993), for which she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. (She was defeated by Anna Paquin for The Piano (1993).) At the beginning of my career, my Latin community was the one responsible for my most of the negative feedback I received. I remember people taking me out to lunch and saying to me "Can you take lessons to tone down your accent?" Or "Can you not be funny and loud during a talk show?" The people were so critical of my voice, they dealt me a lot of snark. I tried my best to make a change, but it was the way I spoke. As I grew older the octaves dropped and I am grateful for that. It's about conquering your fears. It's about fighting for yourself. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. A straight punch in his middle. He's not blinking. 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 only knew about locking and popping, so they weren't interested in hip-hop dancing. Don was saying, "No, no, no. You're female. I thought "What?" This is really weird. It was really bizarre.