Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City and was the daughter of Lydia Perez and Ismael Serrano, a merchant marine. Rosie is Puerto Rican. Rosie was a student at Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Queens, New York as well as later, she enrolled at Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez, who was in her second college year she was planning to relocate back to New York. Her friends had hosted the opportunity to have a party to celebrate. Spike Lee offered her a part in his film Do the Right Thing (1989). She accepted. This was her first major role as an actor. In Peter Weir's Fearless (1993) she played the supporting character Carla Rodrigo, for which she was nominated to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Artistress. (She was defeated by Anna Paquin for The Piano (1993).) Most of the criticism I got early in my career came coming from the Latin community. They used to take me out for lunch and tell me, "Can you go and get some lessons to improve your accent?". or "Can you be loud and funny when you're on a talk-show?" Many people gave me criticism about my voice, and I even tried. My voice was something I was not willing to alter. Thank Godthat my octaves decreased as got older. It's all about conquering your fears. It's more about battling yourself. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. A straight punch into the middle of his face. He wouldn't blink. It's a good thing I understand the way he's performing. [Who talked about Don Cornelius watching her dance]: Don Cornelius did not want to see how I really danced . I was performing hip-hop, and it was unheard of by people living in California. They were accustomed to locking and popping, so hip-hop dancing wasn't something they wanted to study. Don was thinking, "No. You're an attractive girl." I was like, "What? This is a bit bizarre. This is truly bizarre.