Rosie Perez Says ‘It Hurts’ That She Hasn’t Been Invited To The Oscars Since Her Nomination Nearly 30 Years Ago

Rosie Perez was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 1994 Academy Awards for her performance in Fearless (she lost to The Piano star Anna Paquin). That was the last time she attended the Oscars, despite her being an Academy member.

Also, she’s Rosie Perez. She should have an open-door invitation for all events.

“Not even to sit in the audience, not to present, nothing — and I’m a member,” Perez told Variety. “I love the Academy Awards. I cheer on my peers, but it hurts. It’s like when your home team doesn’t ask you to come back into the stadium after you got up to bat and hit the home run.” The actress, who is of Puerto Rican descent, also discussed the Academy’s long history of ignoring non-white actors and actresses (only one Latina actress has won an Oscar, West Side Story‘s Rita Moreno, and that was 60 years ago).

“The biggest struggle has been navigating through other people’s shortcomings,” Perez says. “Other people’s bigotry, racism — and specifically the ones that don’t understand that they are bigots or racists.” At this year’s Oscars, only four of the 23 categories — Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc and Carlos Cortés in sound (Sound of Metal), Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibañez in documentary feature (The Mole Agent), and Shaka King in picture and original screenplay (Judas and the Black Messiah) — had any form of Latino representation.

This is why Birds of Prey should have been nominated for Best Picture. For one thing, it’s better than The Trial of the Chicago 7. Also, the Academy would have to invite Perez (who, again, should have a lifetime Oscars entry pass for Do the Right Thing and White Men Can’t Jump). “Yes, change is happening, but it’s too damn slow,” Perez said.

(Via Variety)