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 educated at Grover Cleveland High School, Ridgewood, Queens, New York. She then attended Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, California. Rosie Perez was just starting her second year in college, and was about to go back to New York. Her friends had thrown her a going-away party. She accepted the invitation from Spike Lee to be part of his 1989 film Do the Right Thing (1989). It was her first big acting job. She was later cast in the role of Carla Rodrigo in Peter Weir's Fearless (1993), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. 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 say, "Can you go and learn how to reduce the sound of your voice?". or "Can you not be funny and loud when you're on a talk-show?" The people were so critical of my voice, they dealt me a lot of criticism. While I tried to alter my voice, it wasn't the way I spoke. My octaves decreased as I grew older, thank goodness. Now I find it flattering if a sixteen-year-old comes up and starts imitating me.Boxing is about overcoming your fears. It's about fighting your own. Floyd Mayweather could get punched with a clean punch down the middle and to his face - and he'd not even flinch. I know the way he's doing. [Who mentioned Don Cornelius's fascination with her dancing]: Don Cornelius was not interested in seeing me actually perform. I was performing hip-hop, which was a foreign style to Californians. They only knew about popping and locking, so they were not interested in hip-hop dancing. Don was like "No, no. You're an attractive girl. I was like"What? This is just so weird. It was truly bizarre.