Perez is Flora in both eras.
“God bless the hair and makeup department,” Perez jokes to EW.
“But playing 20 years younger, I had to think about so many things.
Rosie Perez as the older and younger versions of her character Flora in ‘Now & Then’.Apple TV
What are her insecurities?
What is her pain?
How does she articulate her pain?'
Rosie Perez in ‘Now & Then’.Apple TV
I wanted all of that.
And he goes, ‘Let’s go with it.'”
For the older version of Flora, Perez walked with a bit of a slump.
“I asked wardrobe why they had me in sexy clothes.
I’d go, ‘No, this is 20 years later.
I don’t give a s— anymore.
And I loved it.
I loved every single minute of this job.”
While Perez thoroughly enjoyed it, conveying that pain took a toll on the actress.
“It was hard work,” Perez says.
“I know it sounds weird, but I loved it… and it exhausted me.
It actually ended up breaking me at moments.
I would just start crying and she would just hold me.
It’s just so hard carrying it all day.’
For the final two episodes, I came back to the flat and my sister wasn’t there.
She had to fly back home.
I stood in the shower just sobbing and sobbing.
I had to call her and my husband.
I said, ‘Talk to me, talk to me as Rosie.
yo talk to me.
I need to shake her because she’s so sad to me.'”
The emotional journey Perez experienced was just one of the challenges she took on.
She admits she was nervous approaching her first bilingual project.
That said, I was shaking in my boots."
At one point, she had to get real with co-creator Campos.
He’s like, ‘What is that?’
And I explained, ‘I’m first-generation Puerto Rican American… and my Spanish is poor.
If you’re not going to change anything, that’s fine.
I just wanted to let you know.’
And I called up my sister Carmen and said, ‘I need your help.’
And she said, ‘Absolutely.
But you know how to speak Spanish.'"
Carmen told Perez she could get her only so far in her schooling.
Don’t look at this so much as a challenge look at it as a gift.
I’m going to go to Spain with you.
I’m going to go to Miami with you.
We’re going to work this, and you’re going to do great.'"
Perez hopes she can impart the wisdom she acquired from her struggles on others in similar situations.
F— everybody else’s judgment.
I’m not going to allow this stigma to weigh heavy on my heart anymore.
I’m free of that.'"
“And that’s what I look for,” Perez says.
Watch the trailer below.
