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 of Puerto Rican descent. Rosie graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood in Queens, New York. Then, she attended Los Angeles City College. Rosie Perez, who was in her second year of college she was planning to relocate back to New York. Her departure was a party by her fellow students. When Spike Lee proposed that she participate in his film Do the Right Thing (1989), she accepted. This was her first major role as an actor. She was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Carla Rodrigo (Peter Weir’s Fearless, 1993). She was defeated by Anna Paquin, for The Piano (1993). Early in my career, the Latin community was the one responsible for most of the criticism I received. They would invite me to lunch and say, "Can I go and learn lessons to lessen my accent?" Also, "When you're on a talk show, could you not be less humorous and loud?". People were so critical of my voice, they gave me a lot of grief. I tried to change however, it was just my voice that I used to speak. Thank God, my octaves decreased as I became older. It's a matter of pushing past your fears. It's about being strong. Floyd Mayweather could get punched by a straight punch in the middle, right to his face - and he'd not even flinch. And I'm aware of what he's doing. Who talked about Don Cornelius watching her dance" Don Cornelius did not want to see how I really performed - I was dancing hip-hop, and it was unheard of by people living in California. They were only comfortable with popping and locking. So hip-hop dancing wasn't something they wanted to study. Don was the kind of person who said "No No, no. You're a woman. I thought, What? This is just so weird. This is really weird.