Rosie Perez is a trailblazer. The actress, dancer, choreographer, writer, and more, is a New York icon and someone who broke ground for Latinos and people of color in the industry. In a new interview, she discussed her personal life, her multifaceted career, and why it was difficult to be a part of the music industry two decades ago.
The interview was published in The Guardian, where Perez’s career was explored, from her beginnings in the dance industry to her roles in the successful series “The Flight Attendant” and the upcoming “Now and Then .” When discussing her experience as a choreographer for acts like LL Cool J and Heavy D & the Boyz, Perez recalls the years with a mix of conflicting emotions. “It was exciting, it was hard, it was depressing,” she said. “Because being a female in the music business then was very difficult. The misogyny was very, very high.”
“Even if you got a job, if you didn’t flirt with the manager, the producer, the record company person, or didn’t sleep with them, it would be very difficult for you to secure employment,” she said. While Perez played the game according to her own rules and made it clear to the people she worked with that she wasn’t going to sleep with anyone for a job, she was still treated her differently. “People still thought: ‘You probably slept with them,’” she said.
Perez also discussed where her career is now, and how much the world has opened up in terms of opportunities. She also talked about representation of race and age, and why she makes it a priority to include it in the parts she plays. She made sure that her role of Megan in “The Flight Attendant” addressed common issues faced by women who are growing older and feel like they don’t have a place in the world because their sexual worth is diminished. “And you just feel invisible,” she said. When discussing her upcoming series “Now and Then,” a mystery thriller starring a bilingual cast that fluently jumps between English to Spanish, she relayed that the series only came about when Apple TV+ hired a female Cuban executive. “That’s why representation matters,” she said.
“Now and Then” premieres May 20th on Apple TV and it co-stars Marina de Tavira, Maribel Verdú, Manolo Cardona, and more.
