Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City and was the daughter of Lydia Perez and Ismael Serrano an officer in the Merchant Marine. Rosie is Puerto Rican. Rosie graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood in Queens, New York. After that, she was enrolled in Los Angeles City College. Rosie Perez, who was in her second year of college, was about to relocate back to New York. Her friends had hosted a party to celebrate. Spike Lee offered her a part in his film Do the Right Thing (1989). She said yes. This would be her first big acting job. She was then nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Carla Rodrigo (Peter Weir’s Fearless, 1993). She was beaten by Anna Paquin, for The Piano (1993). Early in my career, my Latin community was responsible for my most of the negative feedback I was subjected to. They used to invite me to lunch and tell me, "Can you go and get some lessons to improve your accent?". Also, "When you're on a talk show, how can you not be less outrageous and loud?". Many people gave me crap about my voice, and I tried. It was my speech that I couldn't bear to change. Thanks to God, my octaves diminished as I aged. Today, I am enthralled to see a 16-year-old come up and mimics me.Boxing is about fighting your fears. It's about being tough. Floyd Mayweather could be punched. Straight punch right in the middle of his face. He's not blinking. And I'm sure of what he's doing. (Who has mentioned Don Cornelius's fascination with her dancing] Don Cornelius was not interested in watching me dance. I was dancing hip-hop, which was a foreign style to Californians. They were only acquainted with popping and locking, and so hip-hop dance was not something they wanted to learn. Don was like, "No. You're an attractive girl. I was like, "What? It's so bizarre. Then I was required to perform in high-heeled shoes, and I had never danced in high heels before. I had the tiniest short dressthat's in my back and I'm like, Oh my God!