The Perez Family is a comedy film released in 1995, about a group of Cuban refugees in America, who pretend to be a family. It starred Marisa Tomei

Marisa Tomei

Marisa Tomei is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987...

, Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...

, Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...

, Chazz Palminteri

Chazz Palminteri

Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....

, and other well known actors. It was based on the 1991 novel The Perez Family (ISBN 0-06-097401-X) by Christine Bell. The film was directed by Mira Nair

Mira Nair

Mira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...

.

The premise of the film was that, a group of unrelated people, who happened to share the last name "Perez", realized they could more easily stay in America if they pretended to be family. Set in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift

Mariel boatlift

The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980....

, the movie shows Juan Raúl Perez (Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...

), a former aristocrat and newly released political prisoner, seeking to return to his wife, now in America, after 20 years. Dottie Perez (Marisa Tomei

Marisa Tomei

Marisa Tomei is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987...

) is a former prostitute, who Juan meets. U.S. Immigration officials assume the two are married, because of the common last name. The potential for a real romantic relationship between the couple sets the basis for much of the rest of the film.

Cast

Selective cast listing:

• Marisa Tomei
  Marisa Tomei
  Marisa Tomei is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987...
  
   - Dorita Evita Perez
• Alfred Molina - Juan Raúl Perez
• Anjelica Huston - Carmela Perez
• Chazz Palminteri - Lt. John Pirelli
• Trini Alvarado
  Trini Alvarado
  Trinidad "Trini" Alvarado is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror film The Frighteners...
  
   - Teresa Perez
• Celia Cruz
  Celia Cruz
  Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
  
   - Luz Pat
• Ranjit Chowdhry
  Ranjit Chowdhry
  Ranjit Chowdhry is an actor of Indian descent, with around forty movies and television performances to his credit, besides acting in theatre as well. Varied spellings of his names have been used in credits...
  
   - Indian immigration official
• Diego Wallraff - Angel Diaz
• Ellen Cleghorne
  Ellen Cleghorne
  Ellen Cleghorne is an American actress and comedian, best known for being a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 1995...
  
   - Officer Rhoades
• Angela Lanza
  Angela Lanza (actress)
  Angela Lanza is a Mexican-American actress. In 1995 she starred in the movie The Perez Family as the character Flavia.The comedy was about a group of Cuban refugees pretending to be a family to stay in the U.S....
  
   - Flavia
• Jose Felipe Padron - Felipe Perez
• Lázaro Pérez - Armando 'Papi' Perez
• Bill Sage
  Bill Sage
  William "Bill" Sage III is an American actor and alumnus of State University of New York at Purchase.- Filmography :* Simple Men ... as Dennis McCabe* Flirt ... as Bill...
  
   - Steve Steverino
• Vincent Gallo
  Vincent Gallo
  Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
  
   - Orlando
• Billy Hopkins - Father Aiden
• Ruben Rabasa - Father Martinez
• Melissa Anne Acosta - Isabel

Archival footage of Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

 and Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

also appeared in the film.