Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez was born to Lydia Perez (a merchant marine) in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She is of Puerto Rican descent. Rosie was educated at Grover Cleveland High School, Ridgewood, Queens, New York. She then attended Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez was in her sophomore year of college and about to move back to New York from Los Angeles. She was invited to a moving-away party by her fellow students. The moment Spike Lee proposed that she take part in his movie Do the Right Thing (1989), she said yes. It would be her debut major acting role. In Peter Weir's Fearless (1993) the actress played the supporting character Carla Rodrigo, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Artistess. (She lost to Anna Paquin for The Piano (1993). The most criticism I received in the beginning of my career came coming from the Latin community. They would invite me to lunch and ask, "Can I go and learn lessons to lessen my accent?" Or, "When you're on a talk show, could you not be so humorous and loud?". My voice was always a critic. I tried to improve the way I spoke. While I tried to alter my voice, it wasn't my way of speaking. My octaves fell as I grew up, thank goodness. Nowadays, I find it pleasing that a young person of 16 years old comes up and imitates me.Boxing is about conquering your fears. Boxing is all about fighting for yourself. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. A straight shot into his middle. He would not blink. It's a good thing I understand what he's doing. (Who spoke about Don Cornelius watching her dance]: Don Cornelius did not want to know how I danced . I was performing hip-hop, and it was new to people in California. They were accustomed to popping and locking. So hip-hop dance was not something they wanted to study. Don was thinking, "No. You're an attractive girl." I was like "What?" It's really bizarre. It was really weird.