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 attended Grover Cleveland High School, Ridgewood, Queens, New York. Then she was enrolled at Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez was in her second year of college and about to move back to New York from Los Angeles. Her friends had invited her to an excuse to go away party. When Spike Lee proposed that she take part in his film Do the Right Thing (1989), she accepted. This was her first major acting gig. Then, she was 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). In my early days, the 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 take some lessons to reduce my accent?" Or "Can you be loud and funny during a talk show?" My peers gave me a lot of criticism about my voice, and I tried. It was my voice I couldn't bear to change. As I got older, the octaves fell thanks to God. Boxing is about fighting your fears. It's about being tough. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. Straight punch into the middle of his face. He wouldn't blink. And I'm aware of what he's doing. (Who has mentioned Don Cornelius's fascination with her dancing]: Don Cornelius was not interested in seeing me actually dance. I was performing hip-hop, which was a different style for Californians. They were only familiar with popping and locking. So hip-hop dance was not something they were looking to master. Don was thinking, "No. You're a woman. I was like, What? This is just so weird. It was really strange.