Rosie Perez Opens Up About Funny Oscars Moment With Woody Harrelson And Wesley Snipes (And There May Have Been Pot Involved)

Wesley Snipes, Rosie Perez and Woody Harrelson presenting at the Oscars
(Image credit: ABC)

While the conversation surrounding the 2022 Academy Awards has largely revolved around Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and the controversy over Amy Schumer’s bit with Kirsten Dunst, there were plenty of other memorable events from this year’s ceremony. For example, Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez reunited onstage for the 30th anniversary of their movie White Men Can’t Jump. However, upon seeing the playback of that moment, Perez has revealed that things humorously didn’t go exactly according to plan that night, and pot may be the reason why.

Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez came out during the 2022 Academy Awards to present the Best Cinematography category. However, now Perez has revealed that Harrelson and Snipes didn’t follow her instructions when it came to handling her dress, as The Flight Attendant actress explained while appearing on The Daily Show:

I was pissed off at them though. I was! Because I said to them, 'I have a train. Just pick it up' -- because they had us step back -- 'and fluff it, let it go, and let me walk out.' They said 'Ok' and then I see on the playback they were holding it the whole time, cracking up! And they were high off their asses.

So it turns out that Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes was only supposed to the long, trailing portion of Rosie Perez’s dress prior to going onto the Oscars stage, but instead they kept their grip on it as the trio walked out together, much to Perez’s annoyance. Why did they not follow her instructions? Perez suspects pot to be the culprit, and while we can’t confirm if that is indeed the case, Harrelson has certainly been known to get high from time to time. Granted, Harrelson said in 2017 that he doesn’t smoke pot anymore, but it seems as though he changed his mind since then.

Upon rewatching Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez’s portion of the 2022 Academy Awards (which you can do too with a Hulu subscription), going off the way the former two are acting, I could buy that they were high and that they handle Rosie Perez’s dress the way she instructed either because they forgot or thought it would be funny to mess with her. Regardless, in the end, these three got the job done, through both their banter with one another and announcing that Greg Fraser won the Best Cinematography Oscar for his work on Dune. That was one of six Oscars that Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel took home that night.

This segment of the 2022 Academy Awards also served as a reminder for how long it’s been since White Men Can’t Jump came out. The Ron Shelton-written and directed movie remains one of the most notable entries on Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez’s respective resumes, and now there’s even a White Men Can’t Jump remake in the works. So far the cast of this new take on White Men Can’t Jump includes Jack Harlow in the Harrelson role and Sinqua Walls in the Snipes role

While we wait for more news on how the White Men Can’t Jump remake is coming along, you’re welcome to stream the original on Hulu. If you’re more interested in what the future has in store, scan though the 2022 movie releases.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.