Rosie Perez is an American actress, dancer, choreographer and activist. She is best known for her distinguished role as Tina in the popular drama/comedy film Do the Right Thing, followed by her captivating portrayal as Gloria Clemente in the hit comedy film White Men Can’t Jump.

ROSIE PEREZ BIOGRAPHY: AGE, EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, EDUCATION

Rosie Perez was born on September 6, 1964 (Rosie Perez age: 58) in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Lydia Perez, was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, while her father, Ismael Serrano, is from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. 

Perez has had a rather unusual backstory. She is one of ten children born to her mother, who had several children with the man to whom she was previously married. Perez and her siblings were raised in Bushwick while her mother was intermittently jailed.

For a period of time, Perez was raised by her aunt, eventually then finding her way into group homes as well as foster care. She and her siblings were often split apart from each other. Until the age of twelve years old, Perez was legally considered to be a ward of the state of New York. Her aunt and mother often visited, and her father had even made an unsuccessful bid for custody at one point.

It was in the third grade when Perez first became aware of her lingering speech impediment. 

For her educational years, Perez studied at Grover Cleveland High School, located in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens, New York. 

Perez has had a strong Catholic upbringing, as a result of her frequent interactions with nuns during her childhood.

In 1999, Perez’s mother was residing in the Woodside Houses where she lived in poverty and wound up dying due to AIDS-related complications.

ROSIE PEREZ BIOGRAPHY: CAREER

In the early 1980s, Perez began her career as a dancer on Soul Train at just 19 years old. She initially attended Los Angeles City College as a biochemistry major, often going out to nightclubs for ladies’ nights in order to blow off some steam. Although Perez was not a professional dancer, she developed such a passion for it that she decided to drop out of college entirely. At 24 years old, Perez got her breakthrough role while being discovered at the dance club Funky Reggae by filmmaker Spike Lee, who wound up hiring her for her first significant acting role in Do the Right Thing.

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Perez revealed what it was like overcoming adversity on her journey toward becoming an esteemed actress.

“Overcoming a speech impediment was very, very difficult for me, and it took a long time,” Perez said. “It’s completely ironic that I’m most known for my voice. So, you can overcome anything. If you come from a tough background or any type of adversity, if you put the time and the work and the effort in, you can overcome it.”

Moving on to the 2013 released thriller/drama film The Counselor, Perez shared her experience getting to wear special effects makeup for the movie.

“What is there to say? I look beat-down, downtrodden, horrific even,” Perez laughed. “Not only did he [Ridley Scott] not let me wear makeup, he also asked them to put makeup on to make me look worse. But it was great. It was great for the character, you know? Because I’m a lifer in prison. So , you know, the only thing that I objected to was, ‘Can I at least have my hair nice?’ You know, people in prison, they do their hair. And he’s like, ‘No, absolutely not. You just don’t care. You’re just that type of woman. You just don’t care about anything except your son.’”

When asked about her most memorable moment on set, this is what Perez had to say:

“Well, I only worked with Michael Fassbender. Although, Rubén Blades came by to say hello to me, which was a treat and he’s amazing in the film. But the treat for me was when Michael Fassbender came into the makeup and hair trailer to say hi to me. And the first thing he said, he goes, ‘Mayweather fan?’ I went, ‘Yes!’ And we took off from there because I had no idea that he loved boxing.”

ROSIE PEREZ BIOGRAPHY: PERSONAL LIFE

On February 2, 2010, Perez was sworn into the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Additionally, Perez also serves as chair of the artistic board for Urban Arts Partnership.

Perez has publicly commented that she is allergic to all dairy products. She is also known to have greatly suffered during her childhood, along with her siblings, due to the dreadful abuse they faced, as well as the regular beatings she faced from a nun.

Consequently, throughout her life, Perez has suffered from PTSD, high anxiety and depression. However, her symptoms have been greatly mitigated as a result of Perez choosing to seek therapy.

In 1998, Perez married American playwright and filmmaker Seth Zvi Rosenfeld. In 2001, however, the two divorced after having spent ten total years together.

Twelve years later, in September 2013, Perez married artist Eric Haze. The couple had decided to get married the night before their wedding, while in attendance at the Floyd Mayweather vs. Saúl Álvarez boxing match. They got married the following morning. The two currently live together in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

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