Ebullient, high-voiced Latina actress who garnered attention for her portrayal of Spike Lee's fast-talking, no-nonsense girlfriend in 1989's "Do the Right Thing".
Perez began her career as a featured dancer on "Soul Train", moving on to choreograph numbers for such recording artists as Bobby Brown and Diana Ross. Her choreography credits also include the opening title sequence for "Do the Right Thing" and the "flygirl" segments of TV's "In Living Color". In the hit comedy feature "White Men Can't Jump" (1992), Perez played Woody Harrelson's girlfriend, a "motor-mouth" whose life's ambition is to appear on the TV game show "Jeopardy". She made an equally loquacious appearance in Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth" (1991), in the segment which also featured Giancarlo Esposito and Armin Mueller-Stahl. In 1993, Perez replaced her usually strident image with a much softer turn as a plane-crash survivor in Peter Weir's "Fearless", for which she received good reviews and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She followed with a turn as Nicolas Cage's greedy wife in "It Could Happen to You" (1994) and as a taxi dancer in love with the wrong man in Alexandre Rockwell's "Somebody to Love" (filmed in 1994, released theatrically in 1996).
- Also Credited As:
Rosa Maria Serrano
- Born:
Rosa Maria Serrano on September 6, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York
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Job Titles:
Actor, Choreographer, Dancer, Producer, Director
Family
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Father: Ismail Serrano. Never married Perez's mother
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Grandfather: Florentino Reyes Fontanez. Born c. 1899
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Mother: Lydia Perez. Married Ventura Perez at age 14; suffered from mental illness; had total of 10 children; after husband's death, lived with a man who was a heroin addict, who she contracted AIDS from
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Step-father: Ventura Perez. Father of Rosie's many half siblings; died in 1980
Education
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Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA
Milestones
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1982 Made first TV appearance as a dancer on "Soul Train"
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1988 Spotted by Spike Lee at the LA club Funky Reggae; approached her to appear in his film, "Do the Right Thing"
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1989 Made film debut in Lee's "Do the Right Thing" as Lee's Puerto Rican girlfriend
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1990 Served as choreographer of the Fly Girls on FOX's sketch comedy series "In Living Color"
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1990 Had a recurring role on the TV series "WIOU" (CBS)
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1990 TV acting debut in HBO's "Criminal Justice"
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1992 Had a major role in the hit comedy "White Men Can't Jump" opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson
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1993 Earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a airplane crash survivor in "Fearless"
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1993 TV debut as executive producer (also hosted), "Rosie Perez Presents Society's Ride" (HBO)
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1994 Cast as Nicolas Cage's free-spending wife in "It Could Happen to You"
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1997 Created (also executive produced) the HBO original presentation "Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground"; also acted opposite Michael McGlone in the "Love on the A Train" segment
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1997 Directed by future husband Seth Zvi Rosenfeld in "A Brother's Kiss"
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1997 Had title role in "Perdita Durango"; the character of Perdita Durango appeared previously in David Lynch's movie "Wild at Heart" played by Isabella Rossellini
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1998 Co-produced "The 24 Hour Woman"; also starred as a TV talk show host
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2000 Lent her voice to the animated "Road to El Dorado"
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2001 Made official NYC stage acting debut in the play "Mention of Salvador Dali Makes Me Hot"
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2001 Starred opposite John Leguizamo in "King of the Jungle"
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2005 Appeared in the HBO original movie "Lackawanna Blues" based on Ruben Santiago-Hudson autobiographical one man show
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2006 Debut as a documentary director, "You Soy Boricua, Pa'que tu lo Sepas!" (I'm Boricua, Just So You Know!), which traces the history of Puerto Rican culture from its beginnings
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2007 Cast in the Broadway revival of "The Ritz" directed by Joe Mantello