Actress Rosie Perez gave the crowd an earful
at the BAM Rose Cinemas on Aug. 24, and they responded with applause
and admiration.
Perez made the short trip from her Clinton Hill home to BAM for
a two-day tribute to her work titled "Born in Brooklyn."
BAM screened Spike Lee’s 1989 "Do the Right Thing"
and Nancy Savoca’s 1999 satire "The 24 Hour Woman."
(Peter Weir’s 1993 film "Fearless," for which Perez
was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe, was a conspicuous
omission.)
Perez, 41, told GO Brooklyn the honor was "overwhelming,"
and she comes to these cinemas – as an audience member – "all
the time."
The Emmy-nominated ("In Living Color") choreographer-actress
answered questions from the crowd following the screening of
"Do the Right Thing" – a surprising choice for BAM’s
curators as the actress has made public her "bitter-sweet"
memories of being directed by Lee.
During the Q&A, the Bushwick native didn’t hold back; her
answers revealed her enthusiasm about her craft as much as her
opinions about Lee.
Against a recording of Public Enemy’s "Fight the Power,"
Perez choreographed and danced a ferocious, boxing-inspired solo
over the opening credits of "Do the Right Thing" and
credits her "angry, frustrated, sloppy and passionate"
performance to Lee directing her to dance for eight hours – with
breaks to ice her aching elbows.
Despite the angst-filled memories of making the flick, Perez
said, "I have such a sense of pride that I was part of such
an historic filmEven though I hate it, I have to give credit
to Spike Lee."
Perez revealed that she will put her experiences – including
those early conversations with Lee’s director of photography
Ernest Dickerson who "let me sit on the camera and go on
the dolly track" – to work when she steps behind the camera
for the upcoming Independent Film Channel documentary "I’m
A Boricua, Just So You Know," about the political history
between America and Puerto Rico.
After the crowd filed out of the theater that Wednesday night,
Perez stood on the sidewalk and spoke to and signed autographs
for every fan, even giving patient advice to girls – born not
so long ago in Brooklyn – who aspired to be actors from the borough,
too.
