Picture of Rosie Perez

“We were doing sixties-style dancing. At the last minute, Spike said he changed his mind, hiring Public Enemy. We had to come up with a new deal in a day and a half.” When it came time to shoot, she said, “Spike didn’t tell me he needed anger and angst and exhaustion. Instead, he just said, ‘I need you to kill it. I thought, O.K.—I thought I killed it in the first hour. Freakin’ eight hours later, this freakin’ man had me still dancing. I had tennis elbow, my knee was swelling. So I forgot about the lyrics, the original words—you know, Elvis, John Wayne? To me, it was all Spike, Spike, Spike, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! And, when like rage and hate just poured out of my body, pure exhaustion, He went, ‘Cut, print it! We got it!’”
— 'Do the Right Thing' at Twenty-five : The New Yorker