Actress Rosie Perez has revealed that she once fired her agent because he asked her to change her ethnicity.
The star of the television series “Fearless,” was born in New York City, but her parents came to the United States from Puerto Rico. Perez reflected on her early acting career in an interview with Eddie Mueller on his show, which airs on the TCM channel.
"They asked me to change my accent," she explained about the advice she's received from others in the film industry over the years.
"They asked me to change my hair color. They wanted me to be blonde. They asked me to change my nose...", the actress recounts.
“They asked me to change my ethnicity,” Perez adds. As she explained, they finally advised her, saying that “she would probably get more roles if she said she was African-American.”
"I remember the first agent who suggested it to me. I just looked at him and told him he was fired. I just got up and left. I didn't need it. At the time, I was actually in college, studying biochemistry, so I said to myself - I'll just go back to school, I don't need this," the actress recalled of that period.
Perez has been active in civic activism for years, advocating for the rights of Puerto Ricans, and is also directing and starring in the documentary "Yo soy Boricua, pa'que tu lo sepas!", which talks about the culture and history of the country she comes from.
This is not the first time she has spoken publicly about the pressures she experienced in Hollywood, and in 2018 she said that the film industry wanted to "make her completely white."
"I've never hidden my Puerto Rican side... You have to have the confidence to walk into a room and say - this is how I see the character I need to play and this is how I'm going to play it," she said at the time.
During Hillary Clinton's candidacy for US president, she supported her campaign with colleagues Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and Julianne Moore. MZ
I remember the first agent who suggested it to me. I just looked at him and told him he was fired. I just got up and left. I didn't need that.
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