Rosa María "Rosie" Pérez (born September 6, 1964 in
Bushwick, BrooklynBushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood, formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, is now part of Brooklyn Community Board 4...
, New York) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer,
directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and community activist.
Early life
Pérez was born in the Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Bushwick to
Afro-Puerto RicanThe history of African people in Puerto Rico begins with the immigration of African free men who accompanied the invading Spanish Conquistadors. The Spaniards enslaved the Taínos , and many of them died as a result of Spaniards' oppressive colonization efforts...
parents. Her mother, Lydia Pérez (
néeA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Fontañez), a singer, was married to Ventura Pérez at the time of Rosie's birth. However, Rosie's biological father is Ismael Serrano, a merchant seaman with whom her mother had had an affair. Much of her young life was spent in foster care. She attended
Grover Cleveland High SchoolGrover Cleveland High School is a large, comprehensive high school in Ridgewood, Queens. Grover Cleveland High School, Samuel J. Tilden High School, Abraham Lincoln High School, John Adams High School, and Bayside High School were all built during the Great Depression from one set of blueprints, in...
, which is located in
RidgewoodRidgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Historically, the neighborhood straddled the Queens-Brooklyn boundary. The neighborhood is part of Queens...
, in the New York City borough of
QueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, and
Los Angeles City CollegeLos Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
in Los Angeles, California.
Career
Pérez was first noticed in a dance club by
Spike LeeShelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
in 1988, who hired her for her first major acting role in
Do the Right ThingDo the Right Thing is a 1989 American dramedy produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who is also a featured actor in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. It is also notably the...
. Pérez started her career in the late 1980s as a dancer on
Soul TrainSoul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
and later choreographed
music videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s by
Janet JacksonJanet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
,
Bobby BrownRobert Barisford "Bobby" Brown is an American R&B singer-songwriter, occasional rapper, and dancer. After success in pop group New Edition, Brown began his solo career in 1987 and had a string of Top 10 Billboard hits, culminating in a Grammy Award. He was a pioneer of New Jack Swing music, a...
,
Diana RossDiana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
,
LL Cool JJames Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
and
The BoysThe Boys is an American R&B quartet composed of the four Abdulsamad brothers, Khiry , Hakeem , Tajh , and Bilal . The group started out singing in Carson, California. The group had three #1 singles on the R&B charts but never had a mainstream pop #1.-Early years:The Boys were encouraged by their...
. She was the choreographer for the dancing group the Fly Girls who were featured on the Fox television comedy program
In Living ColorIn Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...
.
She made her
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in
Terrence McNallyTerrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...
's
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de LuneFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is a two-character play by Terrence McNally.It focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with them tumbling into bed. Johnny is certain he has found his soul mate in Frankie. She, on the other hand, is far more cautious and disinclined...
. Perez had her third major role in the hit comedy
White Men Can't JumpWhite Men Can't Jump is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as streetball hustlers, co-starring Rosie Perez...
co-starring
Wesley SnipesWesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
and
Woody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
.
Pérez was nominated for the
Oscar for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for her role in
Peter WeirPeter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
's 1993 film
FearlessFearless is a 1993 film directed by Peter Weir and written by Rafael Yglesias from his novel of the same name. It was shot entirely in California....
. In 1997, she starred in
Perdita DurangoPerdita Durango, released as Dance with the Devil in the US, is a film directed by Alex de la Iglesia as a cross between the crime and horror genres. The film is based on Barry Gifford's novel 59° and Raining: The Story of Perdita Durango...
, a controversial film in which many scenes of excessive violence, sex and nudity were edited out of the version released in the United States but remained intact in the version released throughout Latin America.
She provides the voices of Click, the camera, on Nick Jr.'s
Go, Diego, Go!Go, Diego, Go! is a children's television series created by Chris Gifferd and Valerie Walsh, and is a spin-off of Dora the Explorer. The show premiered on September 6, 2005, on Nickelodeon. It also aired as part of the Nick Jr. on CBS block from September 17, 2005, to September 9, 2006. On...
and Chel, a beautiful native woman in the
DreamWorks AnimationDreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
film
The Road to El DoradoThe Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animated adventure comedy film by DreamWorks. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, the music team from Disney's The Lion King....
. She played corrupt police officer Carol Brazier in the
Judd ApatowJudd Apatow is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is well known for his work in comedy films, especially for films he has been involved with throughout the latter half of the 2000s. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, a film production company that also developed the...
-produced film
Pineapple ExpressPineapple Express is a 2008 American stoner action comedy directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story,...
, co-starring
Seth RogenSeth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
and
James FrancoJames Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
. Perez appeared on an episode of
Law & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
in October 2009 about pedophiles' rights. Executive producer
Neal BaerNeal Baer, MD is an American pediatrician and television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the television shows ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Education:...
said the writers had Perez in mind when they wrote the role of a young sexual abuse victim's mother. She suffered a serious injury during the filming of the episode. Most recently, Perez is the subject of a released album by Felt entitled
Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez- External links :* at Discogs* at Metacritic...
.
Injury
Rosie Perez was injured in 2009 while filming an episode of
Law & Order SVU. Her neck was injured when she was forcibly shaken as part of a scene. She has a slipped disc and a bulging disc in her neck and has undergone surgery for the condition. A year after the accident, she appeared at the White House in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace for a meeting with President Obama. In May 2011, Perez filed a lawsuit against the producers of the show, claiming that the injury she incurred was the result of being "recklessly pulled, grabbed, yanked, wrenched and manhandled" during filming.
Activism
Pérez is an activist for Puerto Rican rights. Her film
Yo Soy Boricua! Pa' Que Tú Lo Sepas! (
I'm Puerto Rican, Just So You Know!) documents her activism. She starred in and directed the Spanish
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
PSA campaign "Join the Fight" for Cable Positive and
Kismet FilmsKismet Films is a New York-based feature film and commercial production company. Company principal Greg Pace has feature film experience including serving as Associate Producer on The Confession with Alec Baldwin and Ben Kingsley, and as Director of Production for Baldwin’s El Dorado Pictures, was...
. The campaign featured actor
Wilmer ValderramaWilmer Eduardo Valderrama is an American actor and television personality, known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show, hosting the MTV series Yo Momma, and voicing the character of Manny in the children's show Handy Manny.-Early life:Valderrama was born in Miami, Florida the son of...
,
BETBlack Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
's
Julissa BermudezJulissa Bermudez is a Dominican actress. She is best known for her work as co-host on BET's most popular music video countdown show 106 & Park and former host of Jersey Shore: After Hours and related Jersey Shore specials....
,
TelenovelaA telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
actor
Erick ElíasErick Elías is a Mexican actor, model and singer.Erick Elias began his studies in acting, music, dance, and modeling at a very young age. He moved to Mexico City, soon after graduating from high school...
, singer/actress
Lorena RojasLorena Rojas is a Mexican actress and singer, a song writer and best known for her leading roles in popular Telenovelas.- Biography :...
, 2006–2007
Miss UniverseMiss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
Zuleyka RiveraZuleyka Jerrís Rivera Mendoza is a Puerto Rican beauty queen who held the titles Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 and Miss Universe 2006. She made her debut as a telenovela actress in Telemundo's soap opera Dame Chocolate.-Early life:...
and actress
Judy MarteJudy Marte is a Dominican-American actress and producer, who can be seen in films such as Raising Victor Vargas and On the Outs-Filmography:-Awards and nominations:-External links:...
. An English-language campaign was also directed by
Liev SchreiberIsaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
. President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
appointed her to The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). She was sworn in on February 2, 2010.
On January 6, 2000, she was arrested for
disorderly conductDisorderly conduct is a criminal charge in most jurisdictions in the United States. Typically, disorderly conduct makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to "disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain areas. Many types of unruly conduct may fit the definition of disorderly conduct, as such...
in
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
following a rally to protest
U.S. NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
air weapons training, as well as other forms of payload on the government training range owned at
ViequesVieques , in full Isla de Vieques, is an island–municipality of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands...
, itself a small island off the coast of then-
Roosevelt Roads Naval StationRoosevelt Roads Naval Station is a former United States military air base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site is run today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport.-History:...
.
Perez serves as the chair of the artistic board for Urban Arts Partnership, a New York City arts education nonprofit that uses arts integrated education programs to close the achievement gap.
Actress
- Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American dramedy produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who is also a featured actor in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. It is also notably the...
(1989) .... Tina
- Criminal Justice (1990) .... Denise Moore
- Night on Earth (1991) .... Angela
- White Men Can't Jump
White Men Can't Jump is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as streetball hustlers, co-starring Rosie Perez...
(1992) .... Gloria Clemente
- Untamed Heart
Untamed Heart is a 1993 film starring Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei. It mixes drama with romance and comedy and tells the story of a young woman, always unlucky in love, finally finding true love in a very shy young man. The film is directed by Tony Bill, and written by Tom Sierchio...
(1993) .... Cindy
- Fearless
Fearless is a 1993 film directed by Peter Weir and written by Rafael Yglesias from his novel of the same name. It was shot entirely in California....
(1993) .... Carla Rodrigo
- It Could Happen to You
It Could Happen to You is a 1994 romantic comedy-drama film starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. It is the story of New York City police officer who wins the lottery and splits his winnings with a waitress . The movie bears a striking resemblance to an actual event as documented by Snopes...
(1994) .... Muriel Lang
- Somebody to Love (1994) .... Mercedes
- Thumbelina
"Thumbelina" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion" in the second installment of Fairy Tales Told for Children. "Thumbelina" is about a tiny girl and...
(1995).... Thumbelina
- A Brother's Kiss (1997) .... Debbie
- Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground
Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground was a film made in 1997 and produced by Home Box Office for television. It began as a contest among New Yorkers who submitted stories about their experiences within the New York City Subway. HBO picked ten of the stories and cast mostly well-known or...
(1997) .... Mystery Girl
- Perdita Durango
Perdita Durango, released as Dance with the Devil in the US, is a film directed by Alex de la Iglesia as a cross between the crime and horror genres. The film is based on Barry Gifford's novel 59° and Raining: The Story of Perdita Durango...
(1997) .... Perdita Durango
- The 24 Hour Woman
The 24 Hour Woman is a 1999 film directed and co-written by Nancy Savoca. The film was shot on location in New York City.-Plot:Grace struggles to be both a successful television producer and mother.-Principal cast:...
(1999) .... Grace Santos
- The Road to El Dorado
The Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animated adventure comedy film by DreamWorks. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, the music team from Disney's The Lion King....
(2000) (voice) .... ChelIxchel or Ix Chel is the 16th-century name of the aged jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine in the ancient Maya culture. She corresponds, more or less, to Toci Yoalticitl ‘Our Grandmother the Nocturnal Physician’, an Aztec earth goddess inhabiting the sweatbath, and is related to another...
- Human Nature
Human Nature is a 2001 American comedy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry. The film stars Tim Robbins, Rhys Ifans, Miranda Otto and Patricia Arquette...
(2001) .... Louise
- Riding in Cars with Boys
Riding in Cars with Boys is a 2001 film based on the autobiography of the same name by Beverly Donofrio, about a woman who overcame difficulties including being a teen mother to earning a master's degree from the span of 1961 to 1986. It stars Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, and James...
(2001) .... Shirley Perr
- King of the Jungle
King of the Jungle is a 2000 drama film starring John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, Julie Carmen, Cliff Gorman, Michael Rapaport, Marisa Tomei, and Rosario Dawson. It was written and directed by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld....
(2001) .... Joanne
- Widows (2002) .... Linda
- From the 104th Floor (2003) (voice) .... Narrator
- Exactly (2004) ....Angela
- Lackawanna Blues
Lackawanna Blues is an American play written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson in 2001. It was later adapted as a television movie that aired in 2005. The play dramatizes the character of the author's primary caregiver when he was growing up in Lackawanna, New York, during the 1950s and 1960s.-Play:The...
(2004) ....Bertha
- Home
Home is a 2006 documentary by Irish filmmaker Alan Cooke about notable residents of New York City.-Cast:*David Amram*Alan Cooke*Armand DiMele*Pete Hamill*Elaine Kaufman *Fran Lebowitz*Frank McCourt...
(2006) ....Herself
- Just Like the Son
Just Like the Son is an American feature film written and directed by Morgan J. Freeman. The film was Freeman’s third from an original screenplay and shot during the summer of 2005 in New York City and Wilmington, North Carolina...
(2006) .... Mrs. Ponders
- The Take
The Take is a 2008 film directed by Brad Furman and starring John Leguizamo, Tyrese Gibson, and Rosie Perez. The film, released on April 11, 2008, is a crime drama about an armored-truck driver who survives a violent hijacking and becomes obsessed with tracking down his attackers...
(2008) ....Marina De La Pena
- Pineapple Express
Pineapple Express is a 2008 American stoner action comedy directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story,...
(2008) .... Officer Carol Brazier
- Lipstick Jungle
Lipstick Jungle is an American comedy-drama television series created by DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler for NBC Universal Television Studio . The hour-long series was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell, who also served as executive producer alongside...
(2008) ....Dahlia
- Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2009) .... Eva Banks (Episode 1105: Hardwired)
- The Other Guys
The Other Guys is a 2010 American action comedy film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, and Ray Stevenson...
(2010) .... Herself
- Lies in Plain Sight (2010)....Marisol Reyes
Producer
- Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground (1997)
- The 24 Hour Woman
The 24 Hour Woman is a 1999 film directed and co-written by Nancy Savoca. The film was shot on location in New York City.-Plot:Grace struggles to be both a successful television producer and mother.-Principal cast:...
(1999)
Director
- Yo Soy Boricua! Pa' Que Tu Lo Sepas! (I'm Puerto Rican, Just So You Know!) (2005)
External links