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 Puerto Rican. Rosie was a student at Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Queens, New York, and later enrolled at Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez was just starting her second semester of college, and was about to return to New York. She was invited to a leaving party by her friends. Spike Lee offered her a role in his 1989 film Do the Right Thing (1989). She said yes. It would be her first major acting role. She would later play the supporting role of Carla Rodrigo in Peter Weir's Fearless (1993) in which she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. 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 invite me to lunch and say to me, "Can you go and get some lessons to improve your accent?". Or, "When you're on a talk show, will you not not be outrageous and loud?". I received a lot of criticism about my voice, and I tried. I tried my best to alter my voice however it was the way I spoke. My octaves fell as I grew older, thank goodness. Boxing is all about taking on your biggest fears. It's more about fighting for yourself. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. Straight punch into his middle. He's not blinking. I can understand what he's doing. The person who spoke about Don Cornelius watching her dancingthe dance]: Don Cornelius didn't want to watch me dance. I was dancing hip hop that was unfamiliar to Californians. They were only acquainted with popping and locking, so hip-hop dance was not something they were looking to master. Don was thinking, "No, no, no. You're a girl. I was like, "What? This is just so weird. This is really strange.