Perez began her career as a featured dancer on "Soul Train," moving on to choreograph numbers for such recording artists as Bobby Brown and Diana Ross. Her choreography credits also include the opening title sequence for DO THE RIGHT THING and the "flygirl" segments of TV's "In Living Color." In the hit comedy feature WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP (1992), Perez played Woody Harrelson's girlfriend, a "motor-mouth" whose life's ambition is to appear on "Jeopardy." She made an equally loquacious appearance in Jim Jarmusch's NIGHT ON EARTH (1991), in the segment that also featured Giancarlo Esposito and Armin Mueller-Stahl. In 1993 Perez replaced her usually strident image with a much softer turn as a plane-crash survivor in Peter Weir's FEARLESS, for which she received good reviews and an Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Other notable credits include IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU (1994), A BROTHER'S KISS and PERDITA DURANGO (both 1997), LOUIS & FRANK (1998), THE 24 HOUR WOMAN (1999, also co-producer), HUMAN NATURE, RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS and KING OF THE JUNGLE (all 2001), the TV mini-series "Widows" (2002), EXACTLY (2004), JESUS CHILDREN OF AMERICA and ALL THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN (both 2005), JUST LIKE THE SON (2006), THE TAKE (2007), and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS and ITW (both scheduled for 2008).
Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role 1993: FEARLESS
1 nomination