Rosie Perez


Rosa Maria Perez is an American actress. Her breakthrough came at age 24 with her portrayal of Tina in the film Do the Right Thing, followed by White Men Can't Jump. Perez's performance in Fearless earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, among other accolades. Her starring film roles since include It Could Happen to You, The Road to El Dorado, The Take, Pineapple Express, and Birds of Prey.
Perez earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for In Living Color and another Emmy nomination for her work in The Flight Attendant. She has performed in stage plays on Broadway such as The Ritz, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, and Fish in the Dark. She was also a co-host on the ABC talk show The View during the series' 18th season. Perez additionally had a role in season 2 of the Showtime series, Your Honor.
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Early life

Perez was born on September 6, 1964, in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, to Lydia Pérez and Ismael Serrano, a merchant marine seaman. Her mother Lydia was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Her father was from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Her mother was married to a man 20 years her senior, Arturo Pérez. Her mother already had five children when she became pregnant with Rosie after having an affair with Serrano. Perez was born at the now-closed Greenpoint Hospital in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.
One of 10 children born to her mother, Perez grew up in Bushwick with her siblings while their mother was intermittently jailed. Her mother gave birth to her youngest child while incarcerated. Perez was for a time raised by an aunt and then, like her siblings, went through group homes and foster care. She and her siblings were often split up. She was transferred to a group foster home and lived in foster care in New York and Peekskill until the age of eight. She was legally considered a ward of the State of New York until age 12. Her mother and aunt frequently visited, and her father made an unsuccessful custody bid at one point.
When she was in third grade, Perez learned that she had a speech impediment. She had a strict Catholic upbringing, which she has credited to the influence of the nuns during her childhood. She eventually moved in with her paternal aunt, Ana Dominga Otero Serrano-Roque.
She attended Grover Cleveland High School, in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens. By 1999, her mother was living in poverty in the Woodside Houses, when she died of AIDS-related complications.

Career

At 19 years old, Perez started her career in the early 1980s as a dancer on Soul Train. As a student at Los Angeles City College, with plans to major in biochemistry, she said she relieved stress by going to nightclubs for ladies' night. A talent scout from Soul Train asked Perez to appear on the show. She was not a professional dancer, but loved it so much she dropped out of school. In 1988, when she was 23 years old, Perez was noticed at the dance club Funky Reggae by Spike Lee, who hired her for her first major acting role in Do the Right Thing.
Perez later choreographed music videos by Janet Jackson, 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 the Fox television comedy program In Living Color, and also worked as a segment producer. She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Perez had her third major role in the hit comedy White Men Can't Jump co-starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.
Perez was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Peter Weir's 1993 film Fearless. She attended the ceremony with her father. In 1994, she co-starred with Nicolas Cage in It Could Happen to You. In 1997, she co-starred with Javier Bardem in Perdita Durango where she played the titular character, a film in which many scenes of 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. In 1999, Perez starred in Nancy Savoca's The 24 Hour Woman. She provides the voices of Click, the camera, on Nick Jr.'s Go, Diego, Go! and Chel, a beautiful native woman in the DreamWorks Animation film The Road to El Dorado. She played corrupt police officer Carol Brazier in the Judd Apatow-produced film Pineapple Express, co-starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.
Perez appeared on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in October 2009 about pedophiles' rights. Executive producer Neal Baer said the writers had Perez in mind when they wrote the role of a young sexual abuse victim's mother. She injured her neck while filming the episode and underwent surgery to heal a herniated disc. One year after the accident, she appeared at the White House in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace for a meeting with President Obama. In May 2011, Perez filed a lawsuit against the producers of the show, saying the injury she incurred was the result of being "recklessly pulled, grabbed, yanked, wrenched and manhandled" during filming.
In June 2013, she served as the grand marshal for the international Boxing Hall of Fame parade in Canastota, New York. In February 2014, Perez published an autobiography titled Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother, and Still Came Out Smiling... She is also the reader of the audio CD of this book. Perez said that she did not initially set out to write an autobiography, but rather a book that analyzes the causes and effects of child abuse. She said it was not until about six months after the book was published and she heard responses from others that she found the experience cathartic.
On September 3 of the same year, ABC announced Perez would join The View as a new co-host alongside moderator Whoopi Goldberg, newcomer Nicolle Wallace, and returning co-host Rosie O'Donnell. The new season began on September 15, 2014. Perez said she was initially hesitant about the job because "I didn't want to be on a show where people were just screaming at each other disrespectfully." She decided to join the cast when she learned that Bill Wolff, whom she knew from The Rachel Maddow Show, was going to be the new executive producer. In 2015, she returned to Broadway to star in Fish in the Dark, a play written by Larry David. On July 8, 2015, Perez announced she would be leaving The View.
In 2018, in a series regular role, Perez portrayed Tracey Wolfe in the NBC musical drama television series Rise, which ran for one season. She starred in the 2020 superhero film Birds of Prey, as the DC Entertainment superhero Renee Montoya / Question. Later that year, Perez starred in the comedy-drama series The Flight Attendant. She earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the role.
In 2021 Perez starred in the film adaptation of the children's book series Clifford the Big Red Dog. In 2023, she had a role in season 2 of the Showtime series Your Honor.
She was an official commentator for the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match.

Activism

Perez is an activist for Puerto Rican rights:

Personal life

Perez has suffered from high anxiety, PTSD, and depression, but with therapy, it has been greatly reduced.
Perez married filmmaker and playwright Seth Zvi Rosenfeld in 1998. The couple divorced in 2001 after 3 years together. She married artist Eric Haze on September 15, 2013, in Las Vegas. They live in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn as of 2014.

Awards and nominations

NHMC Impact Awards

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
199021 Jump StreetRosie MartinezEpisode: "2245"
1990–91WIOULucy HernandezRecurring Cast
1990–93In Living ColorFly Girl/ChoreographerMain Cast: Season 1–4
1991Great PerformancesHerselfEpisode: "Everybody Dance Now"
1992It's Showtime at the ApolloHerself/Guest HostEpisode: "Episode #6.4"
1995In a New Light: Sex UnpluggedHerself/HostMain Host
1995FrasierFrancescaEpisode: "Roz in the Doghouse"
1995–00Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every ChildVarious Guest Cast: Season 1-3
1996Saturday Night SpecialHerselfEpisode: "Episode #1.4"
1997Subway Stories: Tales from the UndergroundMystery GirlEpisode: "Love on the A Train"
1999Little BillValenciaEpisode: "Monty's Roar/Natural Root Pals"
2002One World Jam: A Concert for Global HarmonyHerself/HostMain Host
2002Gotham AwardsHerself/Co-HostMain Co-Host
2002WidowsLinda PerelliMain Cast
2003XXI CenturyHerselfEpisode: "War, Peace, and Patriotism"
2004Whoopi's LittleburgThe Flashlight LadyEpisode: "But I Still Like You"
2004FrasierLizbethEpisode: "Crock Tales"
2005All the Invisible ChildrenRuthieEpisode: "Jesus Children of America"
2005–11Go, Diego, Go!Click Main Cast
2008–09Lipstick JungleDahlia MoralesRecurring Cast: Season 2
2009Law & Order: Special Victims UnitEva BanksEpisode: "Hardwired"
2010VH1 Rock DocsHerselfEpisode: "Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America"
2010Dora the ExplorerLa Bruja Episode: "Dora's Big Birthday Adventure"
2012Fish HooksChichelsea Chihuahua Episode: "Bea Dates Milo"
2012Nurse JackieJulesEpisode: "Slow Growing Monsters"
2012FalcónMadeleine FlowersEpisode: "The Silent and the Damned"
2012RuPaul's Drag Race All StarsHerself/Guest JudgeEpisode: "All Star Girl Groups"
2012–13The Cleveland ShowChoni Recurring Cast: Season 3-4
2013Anderson LiveHerself/Co-HostEpisode: "Co-Host Rosie Perez/'Spartacus"
2013In the WoodsHerselfMain Cast
2013American Latino TVHerselfEpisode: "Episode #12.6"
2014Park Bench with Steve BuscemiHerselfEpisode: "Hair Apparent"
2014–15The ViewHerself/Co-HostGuest Co-Host: Season 17, Main Co-Host: Season 18
2014–17Penn Zero: Part-Time HeroAunt Rose Recurring Cast
2015The Nightly Show with Larry WilmoreHerself/PanelistEpisode: "Starbucks's "Race Together" Campaign"
2015American MastersHerselfEpisode: "The Women's List"
2016Search PartyLorraine De CossRecurring Cast: Season 1
2017Then and Now with Andy CohenHerselfRecurring Guest
2017NightcapHerselfEpisode: "Guest in a Snake"
2017PurePhoebe O'ReillyMain Cast: Season 1
2017–19Bounty HuntersNina MoralesMain Cast
2017–19Elena of AvalorDulce Recurring Cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 3
2018UnsungHerselfEpisode: "The Boys"
2018Project Runway All StarsHerself/Guest JudgeEpisode: "Posen on the Red Carpet"
2018RiseTracey WolfeMain Cast
2019High MaintenanceAdrianaEpisode: "Proxy"
2019She's Gotta Have ItDoña Lucy ChristinaEpisode: "#OhJudoKnow?"
2020–22The Flight AttendantMegan BriscoeMain Cast
2021Mike Tyson: The KnockoutHerselfEpisode: "Part 1-2"
2021NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½HerselfEpisode: "Part 1-4"
2021Maya and the ThreeCipactli Recurring Cast
2022Black Market with Michael K. WilliamsHerself/Guest HostEpisode: "Thirst Trap"
2022The DAZN Boxing ShowHerself/AnalystEpisode: "Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin III: Weigh-In"
2022Now & ThenFlora NerudaMain Cast
2022Big City GreensMrs. TorresEpisode: "The Delivernator"
2022–23Human ResourcesPetra the Ambition Gremlin Recurring Cast
2023Your HonorOlivia DelmontRecurring Cast: Season 2
2024Dancing with the StarsHerself/Guest JudgeEpisode: "Soul Train Night"
2024SpongeBob SquarePantsSuzie Groove Episode: "Tango Tangle"
2024FantasmasBiancaEpisode: "The Void"
2024City IslandRosey Rivet Episode: "Maker Hill"
2024BeforeDeniseMain Cast
2023–25Big MouthPetra Guest Cast: Season 7-8
2024–25GrimsburgMartina Martinez Recurring Cast

Published works

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