Rosie Perez Talks Making Peace With Spike Lee, Bombing Her 'Matrix' Audition & Why Hollywood's Latino Representation Still 'Sucks'

Rosie Perez slips into a booth at an upscale Italian restaurant in Manhattan. She rolls up the sleeves of her wool sweater dress and settles in to talk about the state of Hollywood. And women in Hollywood. And Latinos in Hollywood. Or perhaps that lack of cultural specificity in the seamless blob of cinematic content created to appeal to the widest possible global audience. On this early March afternoon, the Oscars still dominate the conversation, and Perez, a nominated supporting actress for the 1993 drama "Fearless," has some thoughts. "I think Brendan deserved the Oscar," she said. "But I wouldn't be mad if Colin got it for 'Banshees of Inisherin'. He did something specific to his culture, right? How many other movies has he done that were specific to his culture?"

"I don't know. Zero, I answer.

"Thank you," she said in recognition of the rarity. "That's what we ask as Latinos. We want to do things that are specific to our culture, to our history."

As the Brooklyn-born actress ponders her lunch options, she lands on char knight after the waiter assured her there will be no bones. But she doesn't stop for long and picks up where she left off with her fast rate of fire.

Celeste Sloman for variety

"A few of us dropped by, and I'm so grateful," says she of her brothers, especially Latinas. "But that's just not enough. And when our stories are told, we have a leader who knows nothing about who we are as a people. And then they say, 'Can you spice it up a bit?' want to punch those people in the face. And then if it's too real, they say, 'Could you take it back, because we don't want the public to feel offended.' And people get sick of it. I think that that's why "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was such a big winner."

As she dives into the dish in front of her, she offers a response to the dominant message that she's heard time and time again throughout her trailblazing 34-year career which began with a chance encounter with director Spike Lee and included such highlights as "Do the Right Thing", "White Men Can't Jump" and, most recently, an Emmy-nominated tour in "The Flight Attendant": "I'm sorry I'm not happy when you ask me to be happy with the crumbs on the table."

With that, she scrapes a few crumbs from her hands and digs.

Digging is something Perez has been doing for decades, starting as a child determined to overcome stage fright . If this sounds like the origin story of a Disney kid with an overbearing momager, think again. Perez, one of 10 children, was introduced to the performing arts at a Catholic convent where she resided between stints in foster homes and with various aunts while her mother moved in and out of prison. p>