Rosie Perez says Spike Lee made amends with her after she spoke out against the “Do the Right Thing” nude scene: “We made it up, we hugged and we’re still friends to this day.”
Rosie Perez says she and Spike Lee have made amends in contracts since she complained about her performance of a nude scene to the director in 1989’s Do the Right Thing.
She speaks with Brooklyn, a native of New York, 58 diverse Wed, she said she and the director were on good terms after her remarks at the 2000 Roundtable for The New York Times Magazine She said her “first experience” of showing one’s body in front of a camera “was horrible”.
Perez played Tina in the fantastic movie that Lee, 66, wrote, directed and starred in.
Perez said at the 2000 Round Table, “My first experience, of course, was doing the right thing. And I had a big problem with it, mainly because I was afraid of what my family might think—that was what really bothered me.”
Perez said the problem wasn’t necessarily her undressing, but she also didn’t feel good about it because the atmosphere just wasn’t right.
THE LATEST: Rosie Perez, 58, says she and Spike Lee, 66, have made a few contract adjustments since she complained about her performance in a nude scene to the director in 1989’s Do the Right Thing. The photo was taken at Lee’s birthday party in New York City. New York earlier this month
And when Spike Lee puts ice cubes on my nipples, the reason you can’t see my head is because I’m crying. I was like, “I don’t want to do this.”
“I felt like Irene Cara in fame,” she continued in a 2000 conversation. It was like, “Wait a minute, I feel so low, this is not who I am.” So that was my first experience, and it was horrible.
Speaking to Variety in the new interview, the Oscar-nominated actress said people were upset with her and Lee in the aftermath of the revelation 23 years ago.
“In our cancellation culture, some people have to be cancelled,” she said. And when I was telling the story, people were ready to un Spike me and unscrew me for saying something. And I said, “You know what? This is getting out of hand.”
Lee apologized to her and eventually left them behind, Perez said, as she was pictured with the Oscar-winning creator at his birthday party in New York City earlier this month.
“We discussed it, we made it up, we hugged, and we’re still friends to this day,” she said. And sometimes people need a chance to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ For a man of his stature to say ‘I’m sorry’ is a huge thing.
“But that’s why I don’t like to talk about it — because people get so crazy.”
In an interview with Variety, Perez revealed that she was unaware of who Lee was when she initially met him at a nightclub.
“I didn’t understand who he was,” she said. ‘And I didn’t care. I threw the card away. My friend Marian came back and got it.
She always joked, “You owe me your entire career.” You know, I took a test to do the right thing. People think Spike just discovered me and gave me the role. No, he made me work for it.
Perez played the role of Tina in the wonderful movie that Lee wrote, directed and acted in
Perez said at a 2000 Roundtable that she was in tears while filming a nude scene in the film
Perez said Lee apologized to her and the two eventually left her behind, as she was pictured with the Oscar-winning creator at his birthday party in New York City earlier this month.