Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City she was the daughter of Lydia Perez and Ismael Serrano who was a merchant marine. She is Puerto Rican. Rosie was a student at Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Queens, New York, and later enrolled in Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez was just starting her second year at college, and was about to return to New York. Her friends had invited her to an occasion to celebrate her departure. She accepted Spike Lee's invitation to appear in his 1989 film Do the Right Thing (1989). This was her first major acting part. In Peter Weir's Fearless (1993) she was the role of support Carla Rodrigo, for which she was nominated to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Artistress. (She lost to Anna Paquin for The Piano (1993).) The majority of the criticism I received early in my career came from the Latin community. They used to invite me to lunch and say to me, "Can you go and learn how to reduce your accent?". or "Can you not be funny and loud when you're on a talk-show?" I received a lot of criticism about my voice, and I even tried. Though I attempted to alter my voice, it was not the way I spoke. My octaves slowed when I got older, thanks to God. It's about taking on your fears head-on. It's more about battling yourself. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. A straight shot right in his middle. He's not blinking. I can understand the way he's doing. (Who spoke about Don Cornelius watching her dance]: Don Cornelius did not want to know how I danced - I was doing hip-hop and it was new to people in California. They knew only about locking and popping, so they were not keen on hip-hop dancing. Don was the kind of person who said "No, no. You're an attractive girl." I was like"What? This is really weird. This is really strange.