Joy 101: Rosie Perez

Summary

Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb: Rosie Perez

Podcast: Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb | Episode: Rosie Perez
Release Date: June 18, 2026
Host: Hoda Kotb | Guest: Rosie Perez

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt and revealing episode, Hoda Kotb sits down with actress, activist, and dancer Rosie Perez to explore the roots of resilience and joy. Rosie shares her powerful story of overcoming a traumatic childhood marked by abandonment and abuse, channeling her pain into an unparalleled work ethic, optimism, and enduring spirit. The conversation moves from Rosie’s early life in a convent to her break into Hollywood, her battles with mental health, and the sources of joy she draws on through both triumph and difficulty. The tone is candid, emotional, and ultimately uplifting—demonstrating that joy is a choice and a daily effort.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of Resilience: Childhood in a Convent

[11:18–18:14]

• Rosie recounts early years spent in a Catholic convent for unwanted or orphaned children, though she was not technically an orphan.
  • “My mother…gave me away when I was a week old to my father’s sister. So I thought she was my mother…she came back four years later only to rip me out of my aunt’s arms and send me to this Catholic home for unwanted, displaced or orphaned children.” (Rosie Perez, [12:00])
• She discusses enduring abuse and the importance of defiance:
  • “This one nun…I call her Sister Renata, but that’s not her real name...she always would say, I’mma beat that spirit out of you. And I would just go, no, you won’t. And then she smack, smack, smack. It’s still there.” ([14:19])
• Small acts of kindness from “good” adults and the crucial intervention of Sister Margaret Francis, who urged her to escape using her intelligence:
  • “She came back…grabbed my arm and she said, ‘Get out of here any way you can. Your ticket out is your brain. Put your head down, study hard, and get out, because you can make it. But you have to do it. Promise me you’re gonna do it.’ ... I never saw her again.” ([17:17])

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2. Cultivating Optimism and Self-Belief

[09:38–10:50]

• Rosie describes herself as an innately optimistic, “glass half full” person:
  • “My earlier life was just so chaotic and stressful that when I get stressed now, I just have, like, a reality check. And like, girl, things are not that bad…Better things are to come.” ([09:38])
  • Story about self-worth as a child: “Someone said, you think you’re special? And I was nine years old. And I said, no, I know I’m special and so are you. Why don’t you know it? At nine years old?” ([10:18])

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3. Work Ethic, Discipline, and “Quality Boredom”

[24:23–27:08]

• Rosie details her relentless schedule balancing school, jobs, and dancing:
  • “Get up at the crack of dawn, go to one community college, take the bus all the way across town...go work at Sizzlers, then work at Golden Bird Fried Chicken…and then I would go home…Then it was, like, time to go to the clubs.” ([25:52])
• Finding joy even in downtime:
  • “I love being bored and I have to have quality boredom…when you sit on the couch and you turn on TCM…and you don’t answer the phone. You don’t do anything.” ([25:17])

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4. Entering the Spotlight: From Soul Train to Spike Lee

[27:10–34:03]

• Rosie’s path to performance began with dancing on Soul Train, then a serendipitous encounter with Spike Lee:
  • “He starts laughing. He goes, Where are you from? I said, Brooklyn…And he goes, Oh my God, this is fate. Tonight’s fate.” ([31:36])
• Initial disbelief about acting:
  • “He says, you’re an actress. I go, I’m not an actress, I’m a biochemist…And he starts laughing again.” ([31:57])
• A pivotal realization after seeing herself in “Do the Right Thing” for the first time:
  • “Is it the nudity? And I went, No, it’s the magic. I said, This is what I want to do. Spike Lee was right.” ([34:03])

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5. Facing Rejection and Remaining Authentic

[36:10–40:11]

• Rosie reflects on pressures to change her appearance/accent:
  • “There was this woman…that was trying to rep me, but she asked if I could get a nose job and dye my hair blonde. And so I fired her.”
  • Together with Hoda on external pressures: “Even in the news business, they’re like, cut your hair…talk like this…be like that…” ([36:27])
• Her persistence is rooted in a childhood of rejection:
  • “It was rejection, being pushed out constantly in my childhood, and it was like, what are you going to do about it?...So it’s like, okay, that’s over, let’s move on. Because I gotta get good grades, I gotta do well, or else I’m back in the Catholic school…” ([40:50])

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6. Boxing as Life and Metaphor

[43:06–44:53]

• For Rosie, boxing embodies her philosophy:
  • “That’s why I loved it. It’s like when I saw Ali get knocked down… and he rose like Lazarus…It takes discipline and dedication and hard work to step in the ring…And even when you become champ, you gotta sustain.”
  • “You can’t let anyone see you sweat. You just got to keep going… rejection is a part of life. It sucks. I’ll get down for maybe…And then I call my manager the next day: Hey, did you see on TV?” ([44:53])

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7. The Reality of Joy: Work, Mental Health, and Recovery

[45:02–49:33]

• Rosie dismantles the myth of effortless resilience:
  • “You have to take care of your mental health. I have therapy, I have medication…I have meditation…I have time by myself…I have, you know, on the phone with my sister Carmen every single day. It takes work. It takes work to rise above things.” ([45:12])
  • “Tomorrow’s another day. And that’s my motto, that’s my model. That’s it.” ([46:11])
• Practical steps for coping with depression and bad days:
  • “I have dysthymia…It never goes away. I have PTSD…you have to train yourself to recognize, I’m depressed…go outside in the backyard…I get on the elliptical and I start moving exercise…sometimes it still doesn’t work…So that’s when I call my sister Carmen…or I text my therapist, I need an emergency session…It’s all those things. You have to be proactive.” ([48:11–49:33])

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8. Family, Motherhood, and Joy in the Day-to-Day

[53:31–55:08]; [61:51–62:27]

• Rosie discusses the challenges and fulfillment of being a mother and grandmother:
  • “I don’t know [why I wanted to be a mom]…but it was the hardest job I ever had and the most rewarding job I ever had. It was very, very difficult…But then the laughter and the joy—sitting on the couch under the blanket watching TCM…” ([54:02])
  • On her grandson: “Teaching him how to break dance at the age of three, he’s hilarious...” ([54:54])
  • “That’s easy. My grandson…FaceTime every day.” ([61:51])

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9. Sustained Success and Daily Practice

[57:51–61:07]

• On getting and sustaining work in Hollywood:
  • “It’s not like I’m like…some actors…They think…they open the door and go, job, job. No, it takes…it takes…It’s work.” ([59:29])
  • “If anyone’s, like, in between jobs, but work like you’re working, that’s right. Start your day, have your breakfast, do your exercise, start looking at whatever’s out there and then make efforts like you’re doing it.” ([59:53])
• The importance of “seeking,” not “being lost”:
  • “You’re not lost. You’re here. You’re not out of work, you’re seeking. You’re not unemployed. You are in search of…” ([60:41])

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Notable Quotes

• On Self-Worth:
  • “No, I know I’m special and so are you. Why don’t you know it? At nine years old?” — Rosie Perez ([10:18])
• On Getting Back Up:
  • “Boxing is a metaphor for her life. It is. When you fall down, you get up. When you fall down, you get up.” — Hoda Kotb ([03:03])
  • “I’m going to show her.” — Rosie Perez, on enduring childhood rejection; ([41:20])
• On Mental Health:
  • “You have to take care of your mental health. I have therapy, I have medication…It takes work to rise above things.” — Rosie Perez ([45:12])
• On Joy:
  • “Joy is a choice. Some days are not easy, you know? So what do I do? I text my therapist. I got her out of retirement…because I need you.” — Rosie Perez ([48:03])
• On Keeping Darkness at Bay:
  • “I want to keep darkness at bay as much as possible…” — Rosie Perez ([47:06])
• On Sustained Success:
  • “If anyone’s, like, in between jobs, but work like you’re working, that’s right…make efforts like you’re doing it.” — Hoda Kotb ([59:53])
• On Her Grandson:
  • “That’s easy. My grandson…FaceTime every day.” — Rosie Perez ([61:51])

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Standout Moments

• Rosie’s “special” self-belief at age nine ([10:18])
• The life-altering advice from Sister Margaret Francis ([17:17])
• Her story of being “discovered” by Spike Lee after a dance contest ([31:36])
• Refusal to physically change for Hollywood ([36:17])
• Detailed coping strategies for mental health struggles ([48:11])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Rosie’s Early Life in the Convent: [11:18–18:14]
• Optimism and Childhood Self-Belief: [09:38–10:50]
• Work Ethic and Discipline: [24:23–27:08]
• Soul Train and Meeting Spike Lee: [27:10–34:03]
• Rejection, Authenticity, and Hollywood Pressures: [36:10–40:11]
• Boxing as a Metaphor: [43:06–44:53]
• Mental Health and Joy Practices: [45:02–49:33]
• Family and Grandparenting Joy: [53:31–55:08], [61:51–62:27]
• Navigating the Entertainment Industry: [57:51–61:07]

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Conclusion

This episode is a profound meditation on how joy is cultivated through adversity, self-work, and connection—never passed from outside, but chosen daily, against the odds. Rosie Perez’s vulnerability and humor turn her story into a powerful blueprint for resilience. Her advice is practical, compassionate, and real—making this episode a must-listen for anyone seeking courage, healing, and yes, true joy.

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For Listeners:

• Main Takeaway: Joy is neither easy nor guaranteed, but the tools for it—community, therapy, self-compassion, daily intention—are available to us all.
• Best Moment: The generational healing and warmth Rosie describes when FaceTiming her grandson, echoing her own journey of reclaiming joy from childhood pain ([61:51]).
• Most Uplifting Lesson: You may not be able to outrun struggle, but you can absolutely shape your response—and keep getting back up.

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Listen to this episode for Rosie’s living proof that even the hardest starts can bring the deepest, most hard-won joy.

Transcript

[Rosie Perez]

Foreign.

[Hoda Kotb]

So I've been thinking a lot about sports, okay. Because I feel like I've been talking to so many different people, and these athletes have become sort of their pinup person, the person who they look to for inspiration. So I spoke to Mariska Hargitay a couple of days ago, and she talked to me about Jalen Brunson, who is a star player for the Knicks. And she said one of the things she loved about him was that no matter how great things got or how crummy things got, Jalen was in it for the work. He was in it for the work. It didn't matter how high things went or how low. And she admired that because he has a love of the work. So I started thinking about other athletes who have something similar to that. And they're everywhere, people who are in it for the sheer love of it. Forget about if you get an award. Forget about whatever the thing is. It's just that, do you love what you are doing? And I actually started thinking about my own mom. So this is so crazy. So when I was growing up, my mom always went running, okay? Every morning she'd lace up her shoes.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Who wants to come?

[Hoda Kotb]

No, no, Nobody wanted to go. She would run, she would run, she would run. When she turned 60, she decided that she was gonna run her first marathon. Okay? My brother and sister in law were like, oh, my God.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Wait, what?

[Hoda Kotb]

My mom was running the Marine Corps Marathon, so she loved running. She just loved it. She didn't care what place, she didn't care anything. So the three of us, my brother, sister and I went to watch her run the Marine Corps Marathon. It was burning hot. It was a November day in D.C. and she was sweating at mile six, she was like drenched. My sister goes, my God, mom is dying. Like, someone has to get in. Someone's got to get in. My sister had on sandals and my brother had on loafers and I had sneakers on. So I was the one who was elected to jump in the race with my mom. So I get in at mile six and start running with her. We're running, we're talking. She's delirious. We're at mile 12, we're at mile 15. You know, I'm like, you know, I'm in pants or whatever. It was like one of those weird running experiences, but it was so great. But there's a thing in the Marine Corps Marathon that if you don't get to a certain point by mile 23, they open the roads up, right? So everybody gets to go all the Cars get to come through, and I'm looking at my watch and I know we're close to the time, and I see a policeman in front of us. And we're at mile 23 or 24 of a 26.2 mile race. We're near the end. We get there and the guy blows his whistle and says, get on the bus. There's a bus right there. And I see faces of people on the bus at mile 24 of 26, right? So I go, mom, get it. I go, just follow me, follow me. We're like such rebels. So I start running past the police officer. My mom's following me and giggling. It's all the highways open to traffic, so cars are literally licking the side of us as we're running. She's squealing with delight. It was amazing.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

We get to the bottom of the

[Hoda Kotb]

Iwo Jima Memorial and I just dead stop. And I watch her. I have a towel in my hand and I'm swinging it around and I watch her run up that hill and my brother and sister on the top of the hill and I see my brother. My sister's crying and my brother's crying, although he claimed he was hungry. Whatever. Anyway, she finishes the race and I'll never forget it as long as I live. It's like, if she can do that, I can do this. She's in it for the work, the love of it and the accomplishment. Which brings me to the guest we're about to have on. Okay, so my guest is not an athlete, but she loves boxing. Okay? She loves to box. Boxing is a metaphor for her life. It is. When you fall down, you get up. When you fall down, you get up. I'm talking about Rosie Perez. You may know her as an Oscar and Emmy nominated actress. She's so much more than that, you guys. She is the definition of resilience and joy. She is someone who has overcome what I believe to be imaginable things in her youth. And she emerged as this incredible, blossoming flower. And I think after you listen to this conversation with Rosie, you will say, if she can do that, all the things she's been through, then I can do this. So I hope you Enjoy this conversation.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is presented by CVS.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

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[Hoda Kotb]

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[Commercial Announcer 2]

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[Commercial Announcer 1]

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[Commercial Announcer 3]

All?

[Commercial Announcer 4]

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[Hoda Kotb]

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[Commercial Announcer 1]

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[Commercial Announcer 5]

You're locked into a lot of things you can't change. Weather, traffic.

[Rosie Perez]

Hey, stay in your lane.

[Commercial Announcer 5]

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[Jacob Goldstein]

it's Jacob Goldstein from Business History. In our new series American Genius, we tell the stories of three great writers who changed the way business works in America. Our first episode is about Benjamin Franklin, who, among many other things, was a best selling business writer. Take a listen. He's writing this much later in his life, consciously creating this image of himself. And I do want to emphasize how unusual this model is at the time, this self made man myth, because. Because you don't want to be self made. It's low class to be self made. This idea that we have today is the opposite. Right. And it comes from Franklin. Today there is the derisive term nepo baiting.

[Rosie Perez]

Well, exactly right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And these days, if you are a

[Rosie Perez]

billionaire, you had better have a Benjamin Franklin story about starting in a garage,

[Jacob Goldstein]

coming up with the idea from nothing. And here is Benjamin Franklin inventing it right before our eyes. This has been brought to you by Odoo to listen to more of our American Genius series. Listen to business history. New episodes release every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm just gonna say this to you. When I started this podcast, they said, who do you want? And I thought of you immediately because, a, you and I have this weird connection, which I have felt since the first time I met you. And secondly, because I think you're one of the most fascinating people I've ever met. So I just want to point out for people listening, Rosie rolled up by herself. You didn't have like 15 people. You came in, you look glamorous. Were you in a fender bender or

[Commercial Announcer 1]

something on the way here? What happened?

[Rosie Perez]

I order a Uber.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

And the Uber driver got in an accident. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I gotta go. Are you okay? He goes, no, I'm not okay. Look at my car. And I go, oh, I'm so sorry, by the way. I'm fine. You know? And then I just hurried up back home because it was just a block away and ordered another one and got in.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

And I mean this, by the way,

[Hoda Kotb]

I just want to say this is very emblematic or symbolic of how you live your life. Something happens, you're like, okay, fine. Next. Like, you don't let. Someone else would have walked in there and said, oh, my God, you're not. You didn't even bring it up. I only knew because you said, I'll be a couple minutes late. I happen to have gotten into an accident.

[Rosie Perez]

But that's kind of how you navigate life. Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

I mean, my earlier life was just so chaotic and stressful that when I get stressed now, I just have, like, a reality check. And like, girl, things are not that bad, you know? You know what battery is, you know, and. And. And so I just kind of have always been an optimistic person. I've always been the person who saw the glass half full, not Half empty. I always felt like better things are to come. It used to drive people crazy when I was younger. It would irritate them.

[Hoda Kotb]

Why? Because they wanted you to feel the pain of life.

[Rosie Perez]

They wanted me to feel the pain of life. And then there were others that. Well, one of the girls that I grew up with, Lydia, we're still friends to this day. We've known each other since we were four years old. And she said, I remember the day when someone said, you think you're special? And I was nine years old. And I said, no, I know I'm special and so are you. Why don't you know it? At nine years old? At nine years old, okay. And it's just who I was.

[Hoda Kotb]

So I want to. Let's go there because I just want our listeners to know about you so people meet you now. You are real. You're an Oscar and Emmy nominated actress. People know you from a million different types of movies. But if someone had met you, Rosie, at five years old, what child would they have met? Picture yourself at five, where you were.

[Rosie Perez]

I was in a convent being raised by nuns. Some of them were very sadistic, others were great with all children that I wasn't related to. There was a few that I was, but I didn't know I was related to them. And I was a kid that was always singing, always dancing and always laughing and had a bad temper.

[Hoda Kotb]

Those are all your things. So you said you were in this convent for children who were unwanted or orphans. But you weren't an orphan.

[Rosie Perez]

No.

[Hoda Kotb]

You. You had a mom and a dad. So how did you wind up there?

[Rosie Perez]

My mother and father had an affair. I'm a product of, Of a, A, A scandalous. Scandalous, you know, explains a lot, an affair. And back in those days, you know, if you had the child, you know, because my family was Catholic, you would put them in a convent. But there was no reason for me to be placed there because my mother gave me away when I was a week old to my father's sister. So I thought she was my mother. And she came back four years later only to rip me out of my aunt's arms and send me to this Catholic home for unwanted, displaced or orphaned children.

[Hoda Kotb]

Wow. So you were raised by a woman you thought was your mom? It was your aunt.

[Rosie Perez]

Yes.

[Hoda Kotb]

And then your mom one day just got a wild hair and came in and got you?

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

So weird, right?

[Rosie Perez]

It is weird. She suffered from paranoid schizophrenic. She was a paranoid schizophrenic. I still don't understand it to this day. And I've learned to just let it go because it used to drive me crazy, you know. And so, you know, in being in a place where you're not related to anybody, you start to really understand human nature on a certain level. I can come in a room and I can assess everybody's personality, but I keep it quiet to myself because that was how I learned how to survive. So I could tell who were the bad kids, who were the nice kids, who were the manipulative kids, who were the kids who wanted to be in cliques, who were the leaders, who were their jealous ones. You just learn that very, very quickly. And I just gravitated to the silly nerds, you know, and since I always loved old movies and I would watch them with my aunt and, and everything and, you know, I would just always be dancing and singing all the time.

[Hoda Kotb]

You had that sunny personality and that you're this bright light. Yet when I think about the way that you were raised there at this convent for kids who weren't wanted.

[Rosie Perez]

What.

[Hoda Kotb]

How did you endure? Like, how bad did it get there?

[Rosie Perez]

It got really bad. If you can think of the darkest, it was really bad. There were children who were being beaten on a daily. I was beaten a lot because this one nun, I don't want to say her real name. I call her Sister Renata, but that's not her real name. You know, she always would say, I'mma beat that spirit out of you. And I would just go, no, you won't. And then she smack, smack, smack. It's still there. Smack, smack, smack. It was like that. And then there were kids that were molested by priests and by nuns and by counselors. There were kids that were heavily medicated. You had to go see a therapist once a week on the grounds. He would, you know, sit there and smoke a pipe in front of a kid. It was weird, it was back then. And just ask you the same questions over and over. And you were terrified. You were terrified because if you answered incorrectly or if you behave, misbehaved too much, you know, that you were gonna be placed on medication and those kids would come back like zombies.

[Hoda Kotb]

Zombies.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

How did you endure? I mean, you're a kid. I mean, I'm just thinking about my own kids. I have a seven year old and a nine year old. So I think, how does a. I can't imagine them surviving in this kind of environment. How did you.

[Rosie Perez]

Through the grace of God and through the love of my aunt and my father, who I later found out was my father, thought he was my uncle, and through some of the counselors that worked there. And I had a volunteer, which they call a big sister now, Ms. Claudia. She would take me. She was actually the kindergarten teacher. And she would take me on the weekends if my mother would prevent my aunt or my father allowing me to go home on the weekends. There was Sister Ann. I could say her name. She was so lovely and sweet and young. And there was Sister Margaret Francis that changed my life. She was one. She's the one that pushed me in a positive way. She never hit me. She never berated me. But she was also very stern and in a very, very firm but loving way. And she was always the person that's saying, you need to think about your future. And I'm going, I'm nine. And she would crack up. And I remember she was the first person to call me a pip.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

A pip.

[Rosie Perez]

She said, rose, you're a pip. And I went, who is the pip? We possess you there. She goes, you know, so that's who I was, you know, so. And she was the one that. She left the order. She left the convent, which was scandalous. And she came back a couple of weeks later after she left, and she was sitting at the dining room table, and she grabbed my arm and she said, get out of here any way you can. Your ticket out is your brain. Put your head down, study hard, and get out, because you can make it. But you have to do it. You have to do it. Promise me you're gonna do it. And she was squeezing my hand, my arm so hard, and I went, I promise you. And there was tears coming down her eyes. I've never seen Sister Margaret Francis ever cry. And she was just like, promise me. And I go, I promise. I promise. She said, okay, got up and left. I never saw her again.

[Hoda Kotb]

Never saw her again?

[Rosie Perez]

No.

[Hoda Kotb]

So she changed the course of your life there.

[Rosie Perez]

She changed the course of my life. Boy.

[Hoda Kotb]

One person can do that.

[Rosie Perez]

One person.

[Hoda Kotb]

Wow.

[Rosie Perez]

But it's. If you think about it, it also was a village.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yes.

[Rosie Perez]

You know what I mean? It was. It was a village. And people can change a young person's life. People, you know, that's what I always tell people. Give back. Give back. Because you don't know who. You don't know who you're gonna affect.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, yeah. You know, so you.

[Rosie Perez]

You. This is what you do. Every time I tell you a story, you start crying, and I know you're pulling it back. You're really good at pulling it back. But I could see it? Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

Well, I think it's beautiful because I, I, I mean, when I look at you right now sitting here, I, I actually picture the little kid and the idea that through all of that, here you sit, Here you sit cast in White Lotus, here you sit in all these movies, here you sit with Oscar and Emmy nominations, here you sit with people on the street going, Rosie, you know, from that little kid to this.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

You know, those quick CVS runs we all make, they're starting to feel like more than just a stop along the way.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

You know, it's really about showing up

[Commercial Announcer 2]

for life's little moments and big ones too, and helping you feel your best along the way and making every visit feel easy, a little more rewarding, and something you can feel good about inside and out. It kind of feels like CVS is becoming that place where you can take care of everything in one trip. Whether it's something you need for your health, something that makes life easier, or even something that just lifts your mood. There's a mix of everyday essentials and those little feel good discoveries. So it's not just functional, it actually feels more personal and joyful.

[Hoda Kotb]

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[Commercial Announcer 2]

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[Commercial Announcer 2]

you wanted to be a.

[Hoda Kotb]

You were in some kind of what, Biochemistry?

[Paramount Plus Announcer]

What was it?

[Commercial Announcer 1]

What was your major?

[Hoda Kotb]

That's what you.

[Rosie Perez]

Biochem biochemistry.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

What did you want to do?

[Rosie Perez]

I wanted to be the female Jacques Cousteau, which wasn't really smart because I didn't like to get into the ocean. I was afraid of the ocean and I didn't like to get in water because I didn't like to get my hair wet.

[Hoda Kotb]

Girl. Okay, I just want to say I feel seen. I feel please. If it starts raining, you think there's incoming fire. I am like running weather sensitive hair. Okay, continue yes.

[Rosie Perez]

But I was fascinated. And it was because talking about half glass.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

Half full is because I almost drowned in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, in a riptide. And I kept having these nightmares about all these sea creatures pulling me down. And I loved the show, Jack Cousteau. And so I was like, I'm going to be the female girl. I'm going to be that. I'm going to conquer these.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

It's so funny.

[Hoda Kotb]

The thing you're the most terrified of, that's what you keep jumping into. Like, okay, so you were doing that for a while. But you are also gifted in so many ways. You love to dance. So dancing took up a big chunk of your life when you weren't studying, right?

[Rosie Perez]

Yes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Tell me about that.

[Rosie Perez]

I used to go to the nightclubs religiously. I would go to the nightclubs maybe five, six times a week. And the only reason why I could sustain that and still go to school and have a job, jobs was because I was straight edge. I didn't smoke, I didn't drink, I didn't do anything until I met my best friend, Julie. And so it was just like, you know, I was just. I was free.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

You know what I mean? I was on my own. I was free. I was. I was going to create my path and I just wanted to enjoy life. Every single moment that I was awake, I wanted to enjoy life even if I wasn't doing anything. That had to be quality time of. I love being bored and I have to have quality boredom, you know?

[Hoda Kotb]

Quality boredom. What is that?

[Rosie Perez]

Quality boredom?

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

I want to know is when you sit on the couch and you turn on tcm, you know what I mean? And you have your favorite cup of tea there, you know, or maybe a nice glass of white Sancia, you know, or some other couture. And, you know, and you don't answer the phone.

[Hoda Kotb]

Answer the phone.

[Rosie Perez]

You don't do anything free.

[Guest or Listener]

I love it.

[Hoda Kotb]

Quality boredom. Okay. I'm into that.

[Rosie Perez]

It's just that.

[Hoda Kotb]

Okay, it's so funny, your discipline, because you are where you are. Because you just said, I didn't know you had jobs and dancing and work.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

How did.

[Hoda Kotb]

Like, what was a normal day when you were that age? How did you do all the things

[Rosie Perez]

when I was going to college, get up at the crack of dawn, go to one community college, take the bus all the way across town in la, go to another community college, then take the bus back cross town and go work at Sizzlers, which I hated.

[Hoda Kotb]

Was that the steakhouse?

[Rosie Perez]

Yes, Sizzler Steakhouse. And it was good because then, like, while, you know, when someone ordered, like, the endless bucket of shrimp, I was like, yes, because I would, you know, and just because I was starving. And then after that job, I would go and work at Golden Bird Fried Chicken at the office. And then after that job, I would work at a record store doing inventory on La Brea Avenue. And then I would go home and you were.

[Hoda Kotb]

You did your homework in between.

[Rosie Perez]

I did my homework in between. I would do my homework before I went to bed. Um, and then I would be finished because I was very, very disciplined. And then it was, like, time to go to the clubs.

[Hoda Kotb]

And you would dance in the night.

[Rosie Perez]

I would dance. I would always be at the clubs early, like at 9 o' clock when it was ladies night, so I could get in for free. And then I would leave the club at 11. Everybody's like, where are you going? I said, I gotta go to bed.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah. Oh, my God. Okay.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

So you.

[Hoda Kotb]

You wound up on Soul Train, which was, like, put you kind of in the national spotlight, although you didn't get paid. You. You were just dancing. What did you like about Soul Train dancing? Yeah. What did it give you? What's the feeling?

[Rosie Perez]

That I couldn't believe that I was on television and that Don Cornelius was right in front of me, you know, and it was just fun. And then you're seeing, like, your favorite recording artist.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

So how did they find you? How'd you even get that gig?

[Rosie Perez]

I was work. No, I was dancing with my girls, with my college buddies at Florentine Gardens. I don't know if it was Hollywood or Sunset on Ladies Night. And the talent scout from Soul Train was at the club and he said, I want you to be on Soul Train. I went, what? And I couldn't believe it. And I said, can my girlfriends come? He goes, do they look like you? I said, better. And I told my girls to come on over, and they did. And we all got invited down.

[Hoda Kotb]

Wow. And that was. That ended up being, like, a career changer. So you're dancing on Soul Train, people are noticing you. But your dad isn't such a fan.

[Rosie Perez]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Hoda Kotb]

What happened?

[Rosie Perez]

Oh, man. I thought, like. Because back then, Puerto Rico didn't get all the American channels. So I'm thinking, he'll never gonna see this, right? He's never gonna see this. Because every time I would go back to Puerto Rico, I had, like, you know, the dresses with the collar up to here and the sleeve down here. And, you know, and, you know, the good. You Know, little Catholic girl and, you know. You know, like that. And then Katu. You know, and. And he was. They said he was mortified.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, he was teched.

[Rosie Perez]

He was.

[Hoda Kotb]

So what did he say?

[Rosie Perez]

Call me. And he goes, hello. I go, hi, Daddy. How are you? I saw you. Where? In the Soul Train tv. And I went, oh. And he goes, no, no, no, no, no.

[Hoda Kotb]

That was it.

[Rosie Perez]

That was it.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

You quit?

[Rosie Perez]

I quit.

[Hoda Kotb]

God, you really respected your dad, huh?

[Rosie Perez]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. By the way, did.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Was your mom still around? Did she.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah. Do you have any contact or.

[Rosie Perez]

My father made me.

[Commercial Announcer 5]

Okay.

[Rosie Perez]

My father made me have contact with her, and I resented it. And, you know, in hindsight, I'm glad he did.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

He forced you.

[Rosie Perez]

He forced me.

[Hoda Kotb]

So you. I mean, look, you're a great dancer, but you were made for movies and TV and stuff, and Spike Lee was the one who found you, which I. First of all, I'm just so excited watching Spike on the sidelines of the Knicks. Are you freaking out, by the way, about the Knicks? Real quick? Okay. So Spike sees you and cast you.

[Rosie Perez]

But how well Hampi was that? I was leaving California because I didn't like it. So I was going to transfer to Stony Brook out in Long island, and it was my last night in la. And one of the people from Soul Train said they're having this party, and they're asking some of the Soul Train dancers to come down. So it looks like it's a party. Will you come? I go, nah. And my girlfriend, Marian Wade, goes, let's go. She was never on Soul Train. She was my college buddy, and she was transferring to Howard, and we were gonna fly to D.C. first and then drive up to New York. So we went, they're having a butt contest. Because he was promoting school days, and the record that was the hit for the movie was doing the butt. And so these girls were, like, bending over and everything, and I said, is this what you want? And I got up on a riser, on a speaker, and I said, this is what you want.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

Don't let.

[Rosie Perez]

This is what y' all look like. Spike Lee comes over with two bodyguards. And I go, oh, I got scared. And. And he goes, get down. Get down. And. And I got down, and I am trembling. He can see I'm trembling, that I'm scared. But I fronted. Yeah. And I went, what? And he goes. He starts laughing. He goes, where are you from? I said, brooklyn.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

And he goes. He starts laughing again. I said, what the. It's so funny.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

And he goes, oh, my God, this is fate. Tonight's fate. It's fate. And he starts laughing. So I was going to go. He goes, no, no, no, no. No way. I'm telling you. I'm telling you, this is fate. Tonight is fate. You're an actress. I go, I'm not an actress. I'm a biochemist. And he goes, no, you're an actress. Tonight is fate. And I went, oh, you wish. And he starts laughing again.

[Hoda Kotb]

You're, like, totally poking him.

[Rosie Perez]

And I'm not getting it.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

And my girlfriend Marian is like, rose, shut up. This is Spike Lee. I go, who?

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, you didn't know who he was?

[Rosie Perez]

I didn't know who he was.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Oh, my gosh.

[Rosie Perez]

I didn't know who he was. And then he told his producer, Monty Ross, at the time, give him my card. And I looked at the car, and I'm thinking, it's never gonna happen, dude. And it just kept making him laugh. And he followed me out. He says, call me, okay? You gonna call me? You're gonna call me? And I said, what is this, a scene from Saturday Night Bieber. Tony. You're gonna call me. Tony. You didn't call me. You know that scene, of course, when he's up on the bridge ready to kill himself. You didn't call me, Tony. Right. And so Spike just keeps laughing. I leave the club and I throw the card into the garbage. And it was one of those tin, round, big things. Marianne dove into that garbage and took it out. She goes, are you crazy?

[Hoda Kotb]

You can't let this one go. And the rest. And so you get. You get.

[Rosie Perez]

She called him.

[Hoda Kotb]

I didn't.

[Rosie Perez]

She called him the next morning. He says, I don't want to talk to you. I want to talk to the girl with the poor Puerto Rican accent. Now, in la, no one could figure out what my accent.

[Hoda Kotb]

They were probably like, what? Is that right? Right.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah. Because he wants to talk to the girl with the Puerto Rican accent. And that got my interest.

[Hoda Kotb]

So you were like, I'm into this. So you get cast and do the right thing. It's amazing. And then this shocked me. So you are in this movie. It gets lots of recognition. You don't get another part right away. You don't. No one's signing you.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Like, what happened? I mean, this was a big deal.

[Rosie Perez]

Well, everyone thought it was just a fluke, and it was even a. I remember a reporter said, she's a fluke. And I saw him years later when he interviewed me for Fearless. And I said, do you Remember?

[Hoda Kotb]

And by the way, we should point out, Fearless is where you got your Oscar nominated. So.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

So this.

[Hoda Kotb]

This guy came up again. Okay.

[Rosie Perez]

So is it funny, by the way,

[Commercial Announcer 2]

how we don't forget, like, an ouch

[Hoda Kotb]

that comes even that early in our careers? It's like you can see the headline. You can think about the person.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah, that's my childhood trauma.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

Because that was like, sister Renata, you're never gonna amount to anything. And I said, yes, I am. Yeah. You know, and so it was. It was that, um. And I decided to go back to college to finish. And my aunt was so upset, she wanted me to go back and get a job. And I'm like. She goes, do you think you could get a job as the secretary? And I said, oh, my God. And then. Yeah. And. But when the premiere came out, I sat in the theater and I sat there, couldn't move, tears coming down my eyes. And my half sister goes, is it the nudity? And I went, no, it's the magic. I said, this is what I want to do. Spike Lee was right, and that was it. And nobody. No calls, no nothing. This and that. So I did my research, and I started asking, how do actors get jobs? You need an agent. How do you get an agent? Well, that's tricky, you know, I was like, It's a catch 22. And I was like, oh. And then one actor said, well, there's this magazine called Backstage, and it's a casting call. And I went on it, and I saw a casting for this HBO movie starring Forest Whitaker and Anthony LaPagna and Jennifer Grey. And I went out for it. I just went in, just cold.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

You just.

[Hoda Kotb]

Where's Rosie? Knocking on the door at the casting call. What happened?

[Rosie Perez]

I got the role. I got the role. And then Jennifer Gray goes, who's your agent? And there was this woman at the time that was trying to rep me, but she asked if I could get a nose job and dye my hair blonde. And so I fired her.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Yeah, I'm trying to think of the

[Hoda Kotb]

number of people who probably tried to change you, and you're so perfect as you are, but they probably said, yeah, get rid of the accent, get rid of. Everyone wants to change.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Everybody.

[Hoda Kotb]

Even in the news business, they're like, cut your hair like this, talk like this, be like that, stand like this.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

And you.

[Hoda Kotb]

You resisted all of that.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah, I didn't know that about the news.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, they did. They did that early on. They would tell you, get the. You have to have this look. Get the blazer drop Your voice, three octaves. Because, you know, everybody had to have this kind of thing. They used to. I had someone who went through my whole closet. When I started working at NBC, they were like, no, no, no, no. Maybe. No, no, no. And they took me right to a hair salon, and I got this cut that is definitely yuck. But at the time, they were like, you gotta get the. But it was everybody trying to make you into something that fits their mold, just like, for you.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

So nose job, this blonde hair.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

You're like, bye.

[Hoda Kotb]

So then what?

[Rosie Perez]

Jennifer Gray, she said, come up to my room. And we were on location in Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh. And I went up to her room, and I thought we were just going to hang out. And I'm thinking, oh, this is so cool. Because I liked her instantly. And she said, hang on a second. And she called her agent, Jane Bellina, and Kevin Hubain, and said, you need to sign this girl. And they said, who is it? Rosie Perez. She was in do the Right Thing. And they said, signed right then and there over the phone. And so it was Jennifer Gray. Once again, someone came in and changed my life, you know, and that was it.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, my gosh.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

Wow.

[Rosie Perez]

That moment.

[Hoda Kotb]

Shout out to Jennifer Gray. She.

[Rosie Perez]

She just.

[Hoda Kotb]

She just saw in you. It seems like Spike saw it in you. Jennifer saw it in you.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Did you see it in you?

[Rosie Perez]

I did. I didn't like when he asked me to be in the movie. I was so scared, you know? And I had to audition for Robbie Reed. And she said, you're good. This is what you should be doing. And I went, really? And she said, yeah. And I said, okay, well, thank you. And I was walking out, I heard her on the phone, and she says, spike Castor, done. Done. And so I didn't see it. I didn't see it. But when I saw the premiere, I saw it. But I also. The person I am also saw the room for improvement. I was like, oh, I could have did this differently.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, you're already thinking of that.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah. And it was because on the set of do the Right thing, it was Mr. Danny Aiello who told me to come to set every day, even when I wasn't working, and to sit next to him on the days he was working. And he goes, let me show you how it goes, kid. And he says, first of all, you gotta calm down. And I was like, okay. And he just was giving me tricks of the trade and stuff.

[Hoda Kotb]

You became a student. You seems like you're a perpetual student.

[Rosie Perez]

Yes, yes. That's the one thing the convent did.

[Hoda Kotb]

Well, what's that turn you into a student?

[Rosie Perez]

Yes, yes. They were preparing as well as they could have, in their way, the kids, for real life. And so it wasn't just about book learning. It was also about life learning. You know, they taught us how to cook. They taught us how to take care of our clothes. They taught us how to do the laundry and this and clean and this and this. Not because a lot of the children aged out, meaning once they got to 18 years old, they had to get out by law. And. And we would see that a lot. And it was terrifying. It was terrifying, the pressure on it. But you just ended up. Every day was a lesson.

[Hoda Kotb]

Every day was a lesson. I mean, it's so interesting because, you know, the rejection that comes in your industry, in the acting industry, it's. It's all the time. People don't like what you're doing, how you're doing it. Change this, do this, do that. But I was wondering if, because of the upbringing, what you've been through, I'm sure rejection felt like a gnat on your shoulder. It's like, oh, they said no. Okay. I mean, how did that prepare you? Because a lot of people can't stomach the rejection of Hollywood. It's too hard. Someone to your face saying, you're not good enough. You're not what we're looking for. You're not. Right. You know? Tell me how you withstood that kind of stuff.

[Rosie Perez]

I withstood that because, like, some of the children in the home got to go to outside school. That only meant public school, which was funny because most of the public kids wanted to be in the Catholic school. But it was. It was a strategy on the Catholic Church's part to integrate us into public life. And I remember this one teacher who hit me in class, and I was so tired of being hit, so I hit her back. And she dragged me out of the classroom. This is first grade by my hair. And she told all the children, she's in that convent because she's a bad girl. And this is the reason why nobody wants her. Not even her mother wanted her. I remember this. I remember this. And I was crying and crying, and all of a sudden a calm came over me. And it was like, I'm going to show her. It was that. And then when I did so well in class and I couldn't be denied, she. She had to change. And plus, I told on her. I went to the principal of the school and I said what she did. And so it's kind of like, okay, that's over, let's move on. Because I gotta get good grades, I gotta do well, or else I'm back in the Catholic school and I have to do this and I have to do that or this is going to happen. And then it's like, so I didn't get to go home on the weekend to see my father or my aunt. Okay, so what, what are we going to do? And then like, Lydia, what are we going to do? Because we were stuck a lot by ourselves, so what are we going to do? So it's like it was rejection, being pushed out constantly in my childhood, and it was like, what are you going to do about it? We used to see the kids who would just get consumed by it. And. And it's sad because, I mean, you know, not everybody's that strong, and it's not their fault. You know what I mean? It's the adult's fault in the circumstances that they were in. But it was also kind of like, well, what are we going to do with the rest of the day? Let's just keep it moving.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's pretty remarkable, which explains a lot about you, because when I was reading and knew this from before, but you love boxing. And I always thought, wow, that's interesting. Rosie likes boxing. She likes to go to the matches. She likes to watch people box. And you like doing it. Not competing, but doing it. But it all makes sense. Boxing is your life. It's like you get smacked down, you're flat on your back and you pop up. I mean, has that been kind of the theme?

[Rosie Perez]

Oh, yes, 100%. That's why I loved it. Yeah, that's why I loved it. It's like when I saw Ali get knocked down by Frasier and everybody was shocked, and he rose like Lazarus. Everybody's like, what? You know, and I remember that as a young girl, like, I mean, it just made me just like, you know, television, you know, and that's why I love boxing, because also, it takes discipline and dedication and hard work to step in the ring. Not everybody gets to step in the ring. Not everybody gets a shot at being champion, you know, and even when you become champ, you gotta sustain, you know what I mean? And that's also another thing about Hollywood. It's like, I see a lot of people, you know, Hollywood is like these, you know, your career goes up, it goes down, and this and this and that. And one thing that I got from fighters, professional fighters, you can't let anyone see you sweat. You just got to keep going. You know, until the next bout. Okay, you took an L on this one. All right, Start training for the next one. And. And you just have to. That's what I mean. It's just like, rejection is a part of life. It sucks. I'll get down for maybe. Well, my manager, Tarek, goes, you're weird. I'm like, what do you mean? He goes, you're my only client. You go, oh, that sucks. I'm so sad.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

And then he goes. And then you call me the next day and go, hey, did you see on tv? What else am I supposed to do?

[Commercial Announcer 1]

So that's the secret.

[Hoda Kotb]

If you're. If people are listening and going, like, I'm going through some really bad stuff, is that really it? Just getting up and clean, slating? It kind of.

[Rosie Perez]

No.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

What?

[Rosie Perez]

You have to take care of your mental health. I have therapy, I have medication. I. You know, you can't do it alone. You know, I have meditation. You know, I have time by myself. I have, you know, on the phone with my sister Carmen every single day. It takes work. It takes work to rise above things. But once you get into kind of a routine of things, then you know how it goes. And also, it was one day, my aunt used to be very, very depressed. She was clinically depressed. Funny, lively woman, but severely depressed. And I remember I said, tia was wrong. I. Rosie, I'm so depressed. And I said, yeah, I'm so sorry. She was. I guess, but, you know, tomorrow's another day. And that's my motto. That's my model. That's it.

[Paramount Plus Announcer]

That's it.

[Rosie Perez]

That. And Helen Thomas, when I saw her accept her Matrix Award.

[Commercial Announcer 6]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

She was talking about she went to France to cover Jackie Kennedy, and she was so nervous, and she was doing all this prep and she. She bunks with this, like, older French journalist woman. And the woman goes, you need to relax. You're over prepared. And she said, you're. This is a. A chance of a lifetime. Just chill out and let's celebrate the moment. Go downstairs into my wine cellar and bring me a bottle of wine, and let's just uncork it. And she said, okay. Helen Thomas says. She goes downstairs and she goes, oh, my God, there's so many expensive bottles. She picks out the cheapest one. She goes back upstairs and the journalist tells her, helen, life's too short to drink the house wine. Go downstairs and get the good stuff.

[Hoda Kotb]

I love it. I love it.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

So that's it.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's your. That's. That's how you. That's how you navigate life.

[Rosie Perez]

I mean, you could get down, you could get depressed. I'm not like superwoman, you know, I have my moments. I have my dog days and everything like that. But. But it's like the alternative is what? I've seen it. I lived it. I've watched it with all these children that had such an unfortunate life, as did I. But they didn't have an aunt, they didn't have a dad. You know, they didn't have anyone telling them they're special. You know what I mean? So I could see how darkness can come and take you. And I know that. I know that. And I want to keep darkness at bay as much as possible, you know, because some days is not easy. Some days are not easy, you know? And so what do I do? I text my therapist. I got her out of retirement. She told me she was retiring. I go, you can't. I need you.

[Hoda Kotb]

I need you. So on a. On a dark day, tell me what you would do. If someone's listening and thinking, I want to get out of this funk that I'm in. What. What do you do?

[Rosie Perez]

Well, everybody's diagnosis is different. Yeah, I have dysthymia, which is a low grade chronic depression. It never goes away. I have PTSD and I have high anxiety. So what I have learned is cognitive therapy, which is one you have to train yourself to recognize. I'm depressed, okay? So if you can't get out of bed, or you're slow to get out of bed, or if you're slow to get your coffee, or you feel blah for no reason, or you feel a sadness for no reason, those are the signs. You know, you're like, okay, click. These are the signs. You know what you have to do. So what do I have to do is I have to go and tell myself you're depressed. And I go outside in the backyard and I have to have light. It's light therapy. Yeah, I have the light therapy, and I like. And then I have to go upstairs and I get on the elliptical and I start moving exercise and exercise to pump the endorphins. And sometimes it still doesn't work. And so that's when I call my sister Carmen, and I talk it out with her, or I tell my husband, or I text my therapist, I need an emergency session, you know, or sometimes she goes, you're fine. Do this, do that, and we'll talk tomorrow. It's all those things. You have to be proactive.

[Hoda Kotb]

Don't ignore it and shove it under and think you'll go through the day.

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[Hoda Kotb]

A big part of that experience comes

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[Hoda Kotb]

you after your upbringing, I mean, I. I happen to have been at a Broadway show called Every Brilliant Thing and saw your daughter in law.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

I know, Tara, I know she's so sweet.

[Hoda Kotb]

But then I was just thinking about you because you're a grandma, right?

[Rosie Perez]

Yes, I'm a grandma.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

So I was thinking about you just

[Hoda Kotb]

as a mom, just wanting. Did you, given your upbringing, I think other people might have chosen not to go down the road of having children. And I've heard that multiple times. Not after what I went through. I'm not doing that. What made you want to become a mom?

[Rosie Perez]

I don't know. No one's ever asked me that. I don't know. I don't know. But it was the hardest job I ever had and the most rewarding job I ever had. It was very, very difficult. You deal with a lot of guilt because of your career, you know what I mean? You wonder if you're being selfish, you're wondering if you did enough, did you do things right, you know, but then the laughter and the joy Sitting on the couch under the blanket watching tcm, you know, film noir. You know, this is Burt Lancaster. He's a hunk of. Hunk of burning love. But Barbara Stammeric, oh, my God. You know, and then, you know, just moments like that. And then, like, even with my grandson, you know, teaching him how to break dance at the age of three, he's hilarious.

[Hoda Kotb]

Does he really know how?

[Rosie Perez]

Yes, he does.

[Hoda Kotb]

So crazy.

[Rosie Perez]

But we don't tell him that, you know, but all I have to do is go, dicky, Dicky, boy, boy. And he goes, you know, and he got the moves and stuff, and he does the face.

[Commercial Announcer 6]

I love it.

[Rosie Perez]

You know, And I was telling Kaley Cuoco when I did Flight Attendant. That's another game changer in my career,

[Hoda Kotb]

Kaley Cuoco and Flight Attendant Cuoco, for

[Rosie Perez]

her to offer me that role. And I said, no. And she goes, I'm on a plane and she met with me. And she says, you have to say yes. And it was what my career needed at that time. And I'm very grateful to her. I really am.

[Hoda Kotb]

So many guardian angels. I do, that are just. They see you.

[Commercial Announcer 6]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

And. And I told her that when we were in second season on the cliffs in Iceland, and I just started crying. I said, thank you, Kaylee. Thank you.

[Hoda Kotb]

By the way, you almost didn't take that job because you hate flying.

[Commercial Announcer 3]

That's right.

[Hoda Kotb]

And I just want you to bring us back to White Lotus, which is where we started. Okay, first of all, when I heard you were in White Lotus, I was like, perfect. And then I said, where are they shooting? And is Rosie getting on a plane? So you do not like to fly, and that can sometimes be a deal breaker for you.

[Rosie Perez]

Yep.

[Hoda Kotb]

But yet it was not for White Lotus.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

What made you say yes?

[Rosie Perez]

I almost said no to that too. It's when Mike White called me, and it's a small role. I said, there's nothing here, Mike. What am I doing this for? He goes, well, first of all, I didn't know that I was gonna get you.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Rosie Perez]

And he says, and second of all, I love you. I imitate you at dinner parties. I go, this is weird, Mike. All right, you're being weird. And he's laughing. I go, I'm fucking serious, Mike. Stop laughing. And he's just laughing. And I said, no, because, like, look at. At this line. He goes, don't tell me what to write. I got you. I got you. Yes. I can't give you more scenes, but I'm gonna give you a scene. Please trust me. Don't say yes now, but please trust me. And I went, okay. I said, but. But he goes, I always wanted you to be in White Lotus. I go, well, why didn't you gas me before? Right? And he just couldn't stop laughing. And I was like, this man is crazy. And. And I go, and I love him. I loved him.

[Hoda Kotb]

And that's why you did it.

[Rosie Perez]

And that's why I did it. I believed him. I believed him.

[Hoda Kotb]

I mean, I'm so fascinated. Your career is like, you always are. Like, good stuff just keeps happening to you. It's like when they said your name with White Lotus.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

I thought, of course.

[Hoda Kotb]

But when I think of you and do the right thing and all the iterations since. Why do you think it all keeps coming? Why do roles keep coming? Most people are starving for roles. I feel like you're getting them and thinking about rejecting them.

[Rosie Perez]

I don't reject everything and I don't get everything. So I just want people to know that. Especially like actors who are struggling and it's not an easy job. It isn't. And you do have to deal with a lot of rejection. And I hate when other actors act like, you know, I only get up first. Oh, shut up. You know, you know, it's just like, shut up. Because this is hard. You know, there's only less than 1% that it's easy for, you know, so 99.5% of us, it's a job. And I look at it that half of my job. I tell Tara, my daughter in law, I said, I'm working to get work right now. She goes, what does that mean? Yeah, what does it mean? And I said, I get up, I call my manager, Tarek, what's on the agenda? What's out there? Anytime he says, read this. I don't wait. I can't believe actors wait. Like, I'll get to it next week. Next week. I'm reading it tomorrow. I'm reading it today. You know, I exercise and try not to become like a blimped whale, which I can. Cause my family's full of fat cells. Like enlarged fat cells. I have so much sympathy. God bless Manjaro and Ozempic. It's a go godsend for people. People don't understand when you're born with enlarged fat cells, it's hard. It's hard. I have a spank on right now that's killing me, you know, and. But I digress. But, you know, I. It's, it's, it's work. Yeah, it's, it's Doesn't. It's not like I'm like Keenan said, some actors are, like. They think. It's like they open the door and go, job, job. No, it takes. It takes.

[Hoda Kotb]

But I like that you have. Even on your non working days, you're working, I'm working, you're working. You're talking your manager, you're exercising, you're putting yourself where you want to be.

[Rosie Perez]

I'm coming up with ideas. I'm making like. Like, oh, so and so wants to speak to you. Let's set it up.

[Hoda Kotb]

Good.

[Rosie Perez]

God bless America for zooms. Because I couldn't stand, like, going out and doing the hair makeup. So, like, I look good from here. That's all I have to worry about.

[Hoda Kotb]

By the way, that's such a smart thing to do. If anyone's, like, in between jobs, but work like you're working, that's right. Up. Start your day, have your breakfast, do your exercise, start looking at whatever's out there and then make efforts like you're doing it. It's funny because Maria Shriver and I were at a retreat and I was interviewing her and a lady raised her hand. And I remember it because she raised her hand and she said, maria, I am lost. My kids are. I'm an empty nester. My husband and I don't have. You know, we're not really connecting. I'm lost. I'm lost, I'm lost. We were at this retreat. She goes, can you help me? And Maria said, well, I don't know you, so I can't give you advice, but I will give you. I'll give you a tiny bit of advice. And she said, words matter. She said, you're not lost. You're here. You're not lost.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

You're seeking.

[Hoda Kotb]

You're not out of work, you're seeking. You're not unemployed. You are in search of un. Or in search of. So I was thinking, like, when you are in a position where you don't have work, what you're doing, you just put into words exactly what she was saying, which is, I'm a seeker right now. I'm seeking work. Are you out of work? No, I'm seeking work. I'm not out of work. Yeah, I'm gonna get it.

[Rosie Perez]

Yeah. And also, I do charities, charitable work that takes up a lot of my time, you know, so I'm not just sitting and moping and wondering why things aren't happening. I do a lot of voiceover work, which is so much fun.

[Hoda Kotb]

So fun.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

So fun.

[Rosie Perez]

Hair and makeup, you know, enjoy you know, that's. That's. That's been such a blessing, you know, I. It's. That's. You just have to keep moving forward.

[Hoda Kotb]

Forward.

[Rosie Perez]

You have to keep moving forward.

[Hoda Kotb]

Lastly, as we wrap up, sadly, I'm so bummed. I don't. I. I could do this conversation all day. But what in this season of life brings you joy? Like what. What lights you up? What turns you on these days?

[Rosie Perez]

That's easy. My grandson. Oh, my grandson. FaceTime. You know, and I, I, I. I primed him to get used to FaceTime, because I was on. Always on location. Yes. So I made up a song, and it went, it's Abuela in the phone. It's Abuela in the phone. And she's gonna rush her home to see Declan. And so he got so used to it. Tara says, you're the only one that he goes, I want to FaceTime Boella.

[Hoda Kotb]

Because he knows the song's coming and you're coming. Oh, my God.

[Rosie Perez]

He's four years old. And we FaceTime every day. Every day.

[Hoda Kotb]

Rosie, you bring joy. I love you. Thank you for coming on my podcast.

[Rosie Perez]

Thank you for having me.

[Commercial Announcer 5]

Okay.

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm just saying. Wow. That interview with Rosie Perez was everything to me. I mean, when I look at her and I think of what she endured in her life and her superpower, like, I think something we can all take from this, her superpower is when she gets knocked down flat. If she gets rejected, if she gets. If something bad happens to her, she pops back up. But it's not like she's not like,

[Commercial Announcer 2]

oh, I swallowed a happy pill and I'm up, and yay.

[Hoda Kotb]

She doesn't do that. She puts in the work, which I think is so important. It's like she takes time. She does her meditation. She does all kinds of things. She doesn't exercise. Expect it to be in her DNA, which is such a great thing for all of us. So if you don't wake up happy all the time or joyful all the time, it's okay. There is a way to get there. And I think what Rosie does is she shows us that path and listening to her childhood and what she endured and what she had to live through the rejection and all that pain, and to be sitting here opposite me talking about what a beautiful life she has. She's chosen it. She's chosen joy, and she's just someone

[Commercial Announcer 2]

who does all that.

[Hoda Kotb]

My God. I'm gonna practice all of Rosie's things after. Okay. You know, I love a poem. How about this one? This is a poem by Raquel Franco. It's called you'd Are Alive. It's almost summer and the swings are empty, their braided chains creaking, waiting for Joy to come and sit with them. You are alive, and yes, there's always something to be sad about, but Joy's always wanting. We are creatures with mighty lungs that love to lick the air. You are alive and you could be one green light, one good cry, or a stack of pancakes away from bumping into her. Raquel Franco I hope Rosie's words stay with you like they're going to stay with me.

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[Commercial Announcer 1]

Presented by CVS hey, it's Ryan Seacrest

[Ryan Seacrest]

for Albertsons and safeway now through June 23rd. Shop for you. Save days and get great savings on all your favorite personal care Essentials and earn 4 times points. Shop in store or online and save on items like Head and Shoulder shampoo, Pantene shampoo, Tresemme Conditioner, l' Oreal Hair Dye, Tresemme Hairspray, and Aussie Miracle Curls and earn four times points to use for future savings on gross groceries or gas. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

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[Ryan Seacrest]

What?

[Paramount Plus Announcer]

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[Rosie Perez]

Now I will control an Empire original

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[Rosie Perez]

Welcome to the history books.

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