-Our next guest is an Emmy- and Oscar-nominated actress
you know from movies like "Do the Right Thing,"
"Fearless," and "White Men Can't Jump,"
as well as the HBO Max series "The Flight Attendant."
She stars in the second season of "Your Honor."
New episodes debut Fridays on streaming and on demand
and air Sunday nights on Showtime.
Let's take a look.
-Have I given you the impression that any of this is optional?
-I don't know why you're trying to push me?
-Seriously? Everything you know
about the Baxters, everything you've seen them do, it --
honestly, it's just driving me a little bat-[Bleep] crazy
that I have to persuade you to take them down.
-Ah.
-Please welcome back to the show Rosie Perez, everybody!
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Mid-tempo music plays ]
♪♪
Welcome back to the show! How are you?
-I'm good. I'm only wearing one Spanx,
so I'm good. I can breathe.
-When you -- So, at two Spanx, you have trouble
with your just respiratory? -Yes. Yes.
-Hey, so, you are -- you're a New Yorker.
-Yep. -You're an actor,
you're a choreographer, you're an activist.
-I was a choreographer. -You was. You're no longer.
-I got arthritis now. -Okay.
-In my knees, in my hips. I got a broken toe.
-Do you think that all came from your young life as a dancer?
-Absolutely. I mean, you know,
I was dancing hip-hop, you know, on concrete.
-[ Laughs ] -And then, when I was
on "Soul Train," I'm dancing in high heels,
jumping up and down like an idiot,
having the time of my life, and now I'm paying for it.
So yeah. -I guess it's true,
what you're putting yourself through is no different
than what an athlete would put themselves through?
-Absolutely. Absolutely. But I still dance in my house.
-You do? Do you have, like,
the thickest carpet in the world to make up for it?
[ Laughter ]
-Yes, because sometimes when I fall,
my husband, he just bursts out laughing.
-Does he like watching? Is he happy when you dance?
-Yeah. -Alright, good.
I mean I would be. -I mean, of course.
-When you danced on concrete,
what were your early days of hip-hop dancing?
Where were you doing it? -Just, like, illegal nightclubs.
Ooh, can I say that? -Yeah.
-Okay. -I mean, I'm assuming
they're not going to file a grievance against them now.
-Right. [ Laughter ]
-Statute of limitations probably went through.
So, where were the illegal nightclubs?
-Oh, it was... [ Laughter ]
-Oh, now you're clamming up, Miss Perez.
I don't know... [ Laughter ]
-Um, well, there was this pop-up nightclub
called Car Wash. -Okay.
-And, yeah, so, they would just --
Sometimes it would be an abandoned warehouse.
Sometimes it would be in a trucking service
where they shouldn't have been.
-So you would come in as a sort of entertainment
over the course of the night, to dance the hip-hop?
-What? [ Laughter ]
I wasn't the entertainment for the night.
-Oh, you were just dancing to be part --
-I was just dancing. And also, at that time,
I was working for... [ Laughter ]
-By the way, when you said you were dancing
at an abandoned truck or whatever,
I wasn't like, "What?!" I just went with it.
I don't even know what you're talking about.
A trucking what? Like a trucking depot?
Like a weigh station off the highway?
What the -- Just rolled with it. [ Laughter ]
I was like, "I'm not gonna call out Rosie."
[ Laughter ]
-Oh, my gosh. Oh, man.
No, I would go there to see -- I was also working
at "In Living Color" during that time.
Not only with the Fly Girls, I had to do the dance,
but I also booked the musical acts.
So I would go to these nightclubs
to see what was the hot thing.
And I would have to predict what was hot
before their record would come out,
because, you know, there's a delay.
And so I would see, you know, Leaders of the New School,
and that's where Busta Rhymes came from,
the Wu-Tang Clan.
Oh, my God, I remember when I met Ol' Dirty Bastard,
he licked my hand. It was so disgusting.
[ Laughter ] Oh, my gosh.
-Aptly named. [ Laughter ]
-So, stuff like that. So it was --
-And was that something that they -- I mean,
they must have had a lot of faith
in your ability to see talent, when you went back and said,
"Hey, these Wu-Tang Clan, we got to have them."
Did they just sort of take your word for it?
-They said no to Wu-Tang. They were a little too hardcore.
-Yeah, well, I get it. For TV -- -Yeah, for TV.
-Back then especially, they were very...
Is it amazing to you now, like, as somebody
who was dancing in that era, that dance on the apps,
like TikTok, has become so modern
because kids are watching each other dance
and learning new dance moves?
Do you ever look at dancing on TikTok?
-Um, yes, because my sister, Carmen, sends me TikTok videos
all throughout the day. It's very irritating.
-Uh-huh. [ Laughter ]
-And you know, some of them are asinine,
but when it comes to the dancing ones, I love them.
I just love 'em. -Oh, that's good.
-Yeah. There's these two older couples on TikTok.
I think they're -- they're Latino,
but I don't know if they're Dominican or Puerto Rican
or Cuban, but they're one of those things.
And they -- they hump on each other,
and they're senior citizens. Have you seen it?
It's amazing. It's amazing. -What age are we talking about,
these people? -I'm talking like 90.
-And they're humping on each other?
-And they're humping on each other.
-Oh, my God. -Yeah. It's great.
-That's great. Good for them. -Yeah.
-You know, if I'm 90 and I'm humping on somebody,
I'm gonna put it online. [ Laughter ]
I want everybody to see it. You also -- You didn't just --
-Sorry, that image of you humping.
-What's wrong? It's not laughable.
It's sexy. -Okay. Sorry.
-You should be going, "Ooh, ooh."
[ Laughter ]
Wait. You also ran a club back in the day, right?
-I did. -How'd it go?
-It was horrible. -Why?
-Because I -- I thought it was a genius idea.
It was me and my friend Bobbito Garcia.
You know Bobbito? -Yeah, well.
-Who -- You do?
-No, I don't know Bobbito Garcia.
[ Laughter ]
Was he ever with a guy wearing a plaid shirt like this?
[ Laughter ]
-Well, he -- That's when he went by Bobbito the Barber,
but now he goes by Bobbito Kool Bob Love Cucumber Slice.
-Okay. -Okay.
-So [Laughs] we were friends, and he and this girl are like,
"Do you want to do a club together?"
And I go, "Okay. Oh, what should we name it?"
I go, "Let's call it love.
And how are we going to get people to come?"
Because everyone knew Bobbito Garcia,
and they knew me. And so I said, "What if we say,
before 9:00, you could get in for free
if you make out, like tongue make out,
at the door?" -So you make out
in front of the bouncer, and then he lets you in?
-Yes, before 9:00. There was a line down the block
at 7:00 p.m. [ Laughter ]
We made no money. -Uh-huh.
-At all. The other partner,
she was so pissed at me. And then it was packed, right?
We probably made like $1,000. That's it.
And the rent was $3,000. -[ Laughs ]
-And then somebody called the fire department.
The fire department gave us a fine, shut us down,
so we were in the hole. It was -- It was terrible,
but it was great fun! -For one night?
-For one night, it was off the hook.
It was really great fun, yeah. -So it sounds like maybe
good at parties, bad at business.
-Yes. Yes, yes. -Hey, I want to ask you this.
A lot of people, especially during the pandemic,
were saying, "New York is over.
This is never gonna come back as a great city."
How did you feel during that time,
when sort of this city, during the pandemic,
emptied out? -I thought that they weren't
real New Yorkers. -The people who left?
There you go. -Yes.
Thank you very much for that one person that clapped.
[ Laughter ]
Up on top, I see you. Holla. [ Laughter ]
Yeah, because it's like, you know, during 9/11,
people were leaving. I stayed, you know.
It's, like, we got to support our city.
And when the pandemic hit, you know,
we could have went to Connecticut.
We could have went Upstate New York or Jersey
to my daughter-in-law's house. And I said,
"No, we're gonna stick this out. We're gonna stick it out."
So, yeah.
-Well, the city is lucky to have you,
and it has been for a long time.
You -- This show -- wonderful show,
you're working with Bryan Cranston.
You filmed it down in New Orleans.
-Yeah. -Did you enjoy your time
in New Orleans? Did you go and sightsee?
-No. -Okay.
-No. [ Laughter ]
-Not a sightseer in general? -No, no, no.
Actually, the only time that I ever enjoyed sightseeing
is when I was on "The Flight Attendant,"
and we went to Iceland. -Uh-huh.
-That was amazing. -Iceland's amazing?
-Yeah, because I like the cold, and that's why New Orleans,
I didn't leave the hotel.
-Too hot? -Too hot.
I don't like the hot. I don't like the heat.
I don't like being hot and sweaty.
My hair goes poof. It's just not a good look
for me, you know. But the people there were nice.
-Okay, so, you liked the people of New Orleans.
You just didn't care for the heat.
-I didn't care for the heat at all.
It's muggy. It's terrible.
I remember, during one day we were shooting,
it was so hot, I ripped off my Spanx
right there on-set. I couldn't take it.
It was too -- It was horrible. [ Laughter ]
-You work with Bryan Cranston on this.
You play a prosecutor. -Yes.
-Were you excited to play a prosecutor?
-Yes, I was, I was. -That's good.
-I know a lot of D.A.s and assistant D.A.s,
and a lot of law enforcement are in my family.
My daughter-in-law is in law enforcement.
You know, I just -- I just love it.
I loved it, and I really -- I really relied on them
to create this character.
And I only had two days to create the character.
I got a call on Friday, had a shoot on Sunday or Monday.
It was -- It was nerve-racking, And so I was on the phone
on the way to the airport with my daughter-in-law,
with my two assistant D.A.s.
I don't want to name their names.
You know, and even when -- right before set,
I'm just making notes and, like, being all, like, nervous.
And when I got there, I sat down.
I was a nervous wreck, and I just --
I just let her come out, Olivia,
and she came out, like, really pretty badass.
And so I got a call when it premiered last night.
They were like, "You did good." -Alright.
-Like, "Yay!" -Well, I agree. I second that.
And may I just say I find you pretty badass in real life,
as well. It is so nice having you back.
-Thank you. -Please come back soon.
You guys, give it up for Rosie Perez.
[ Cheers and applause ] New episodes of "Your Honor"
debut Fridays on streaming and on demand,
and airs Sunday nights on Showtime.
We'll be right back with more "Late Night.""