Rosa María "Rosie" Pérez (born September 6, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress, dancer, choreographer and director. She is recognized for her nasal voice and thick Brooklyn accent.
Early life
Pérez was born in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents Lydia Perez (née Fontanez), a singer, and Ismael Serrano, a merchant marine. At the time of her birth, her mother was married to Ventura Perez, and had an affair with Serrano. She started her career in the late 1980s as a dancer on Soul Train and has choreographed music videos by Bobby Brown, Diana Ross, LL Cool J and The Boys. She was the choreographer for the dancing group, the Fly Girls who were featured on every performance of In Living Color, a 1990s television variety series.Career
She was noticed in a dance club by Spike Lee in 1989, who hired her for her first acting role in Lee's Do the Right Thing. She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Perez had a major role in the hit comedy White Men Can't Jump in 1992, with co-stars Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. She also appeared opposite Jeff Bridges in Peter Weir's 1993 film Fearless, for which Pérez was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1997 she starred in 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 co-stars as "Click, the camera" on Nick Jr.'s Go, Diego, Go!.
Pérez is a Puerto Rican activist who fights for Puerto Rican rights from America. Her 2006 film Yo Soy Boricua! Pa' Que Tú Lo Sepas! (I'm Puerto Rican, Just So You Know!) is about this fight.
In Fall 2006, Pérez starred in and directed the Spanish AIDS PSA campaign "Join the Fight" for Cable Positive and Kismet Films. The campaign featured actor Wilmer Valderrama, BET's Julissa Bermudez, Telenovela actor Erick Elias, singer/actress Lorena Rojas, 2006-2007 Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera, and actress Judy Marte. An English-language campaign was directed by Liev Schreiber. She will also co-star opposite Seth Rogen and James Franco in the Judd Apatow-produced film Pineapple Express.
On the Veronica Mars episode "An Echolls Family Christmas", it is said that Logan Echolls was in love with Rosie Perez as a small child; at the request of his movie star father, Aaron Echolls, she came to his ninth birthday party, and having misheard his name as Lauren, brought him a purse.
Personal life
Perez attended school in Los Angeles for a brief time. She practices Kung fu. In 1999, Pérez married filmmaker Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, but they separated in 2001. Perez has a twin sister named Carmen.
She was arrested on January 6, 2000 for disorderly conduct in Manhattan following a rally to protest US Navy bomb tests on Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico. (see Navy-Vieques protests)
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