*Rosie Perez is speaking out about how going to therapy for anxiety helped her acting career.
“The Flight Attendant” star had a traumatic childhood growing up as a ward of the state, of New York. As reported by TheWrap, Perez described her childhood as “something out of a Charles Dickinson novel.”
“The way I survived it initially was just putting the blinders on and moving forward,” she said. Later in life, Perez’s untreated anxiety began affecting her work.
“There was just so much hiding that was going on that it would kind of bleed through…. It was just so hard to deliver a performance,” she said. “Thank goodness I would deliver it, but it was exhausting.”
READ MORE: Rosie Perez Reveals She’s Not Involved with ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Remake
Perez decided to see a psychologist. “I wasn’t even conscious of the fact that I wasn’t happy with all the success that I was having. And [therapy] actually made me a better actor, because I got out of my way.”
Perez says therapy equipped her with the tools to help manage her mental health issues.
“I would tell anyone, if you feel that you have any type of issues, go get help,” she said. “You get a headache, you take a Tylenol; you have diabetes, you take insulin or you monitor your diet. It’s the same thing for your mental health: You have to take care of yourself. And I’m a testament to the fact that it does work and you come out better for it.”
In related news, Perez previously shared an update about the reboot of “White Men Can’t Jump”. As reported previously, the original film, written and directed by Ron Shelton, starred Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as two street basketball hustlers who at first try to hustle each other before they team up for a bigger score. Perez played the longtime girlfriend of Harrelson’s character, whose dream is to appear on Jeopardy!
Perez says the upcoming film will be its own version of the story and so far, she has no input or involvement with it, EW reported.
“I haven’t been contacted,” Perez said. “The last time I spoke to Woody and Wesley, they haven’t either, but I don’t know if they’ve been contacted since,” Perez states. “And everybody’s like, ‘Oh that’s messed up.’ No, it’s not! The cast[s] of A Star Is Born, one and two and three, didn’t have a cameo in all the remakes, you know what I’m saying? They worked and they’ve been great remakes. I was just watching the remake of The Talented Mr. Ripley, with Jude Law, Matt Damon and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, God rest his soul, and it was amazing. So, I have high hopes for the remake.”
She adds, “I want it to work because if it works, it really cements White Men Can’t Jump as a classic. And I wish everybody would be rooting for the same.”
It was reported back in 2017 that“Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris was teaming up with athletes-turned-producers Blake Griffin and Ryan Kalil for an update of the 1992 sports comedy under Twentieth Century Fox, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Rapper Jack Harlow has reportedly been cast in Harrelson’s role.
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