Dante_Basco

Dante Basco

Dante Basco

American actor (born 1975)

Dante Roman Basco (born August 29, 1975)[1] is an American actor. He is known for his role as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's Hook, and for voicing the titular protagonist of American Dragon: Jake Long and Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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His voice acting roles include Zuko's grandson General Iroh II in The Legend of Korra, Quoc Wong in The Proud Family, Jingmei in The Boondocks, Tuck in Generator Rex, Scorpion in Ultimate Spider-Man, and Jai Kell in Star Wars Rebels.

Early life

Basco was born in Pittsburg, California, and raised in Cerritos and Paramount, California to Filipino parents.[2] He has four siblings, including actor Dion Basco.[3] In the mid-1980s, he and his brothers formed a breakdancing crew and worked as street performers.[4] He attended Orange County High School of the Arts[5] in the Music and Theatre Conservatory and graduated in 1993.

Career

He began his acting career with minor television roles. His breakthrough performance was when he appeared as the leader Rufio of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman.[6]

In 2017, Basco produced a Kickstarter-funded short film, Bangarang, about the character Rufio. The film was directed by Jonah Feingold.[7]

Basco streams gameplay on Twitch.[8]

Basco released his memoir From Rufio to Zuko through the independent publisher Not a Cult.[8]

Avatar: Braving the Elements, an official Nickelodeon companion podcast to Avatar: The Last Airbender, premiered on June 22, 2021. Basco and Janet Varney (voice of Korra) host the podcast, which follows them as they rewatch the series, discuss each episode's key moments and behind-the scenes information, and feature special guests.[9]

Voice acting

Basco talking to a Zuko cosplayer at Otakon 2014.

Basco has done voice acting for many animated productions, including Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jai Kell in Star Wars Rebels and Jake Long in American Dragon: Jake Long. He also voice acted Kwok Wong in The Proud Family, and Master Cheddar in S4 E22 of We Bear Bears titled Baby Orphan Ninja Bears. [10] He voiced Matt Martin/Kewl Breeze in the short-lived animated series Zevo-3, and voiced General Iroh, Zuko's grandson, in The Legend of Korra.[11]

He contributed additional voices for Aion, Mortal Kombat X, and Saints Row. He also voiced Shingo in the Skate series and Seeing Farther in the Call of Juarez series.[11]

Personal life

On April 19, 2023, Basco became engaged to Uyghur[12][13] actress and television host Alice Rehemutula.[14][15] They married in September 2023 in China. On May 3rd 2024 Alice announced via Instagram that she and Dante are expecting their first child. [16]

Filmography

Film

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Television

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Web series

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Video games

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Awards

Cultural impact

Basco's impact on Asian-American culture through his roles in Hollywood and involvement with the community has inspired many young Asian-American people. As one of the only Asian-American faces in Hollywood throughout the '90s, Basco quickly became a leading figure in the Asian-American movement. In one of his earliest films, Hook, Basco was able to show his talent as an actor and gained interest from people throughout Hollywood. This was the start of the Asian-American movement.[24] In 1998, Dante Basco along with Shihan Van Clief, Devin “Poetri” Smith, and Gimel Hooper created the Da Poetry Club. It is a place where people could come together and share their family history or origins through poetry. The club continues to run till this day.[25] However, in the early 2000s there was still little representation of mixed American or foreign people.[26] This is also true in one of Dante Basco’s most popular works, Avatar the Last Airbender. The setting of Avatar the Last Airbender is based on Asian culture as it contains many martial arts and spiritual beliefs commonly seen throughout Asia. While, Avatar the Last Airbender is critically acclaimed as one of the best animated shows of all time, many people have problems with the predominately white cast. For a show that was based so heavily on Asian culture, fans were disappointed to see the lack of representation in the cast. However, the exception was Dante Basco. The character Zuko in Avatar the Last Airbender was quickly beloved by all and the voice behind him gained interest as well. In a world where white people dominated the industry, Basco showed that there is talent outside of the mostly white scene of Hollywood.[4]

Countering racism through Avatar

In 2021, Basco co-hosted a podcast with Janet Varney, the voice of Korra in The Legend of Korra, called Avatar: Braving the Elements.[9] This podcast was created in collaboration with Nickelodeon when Avatar the Last Airbender was released on Netflix. In this podcast, Basco and Varney would talk about the story of Avatar the Last Airbender and go into further detail about the plot, characters, and world building. They would bring on some of the other voice actors or production members and explore the creation process of Avatar the Last Airbender and join in the in depth discussion about the various aspects of the series. In an interview Basco and Varney did, Basco talked about how vital Asian culture is in the story of Avatar the Last Airbender. Basco goes on about the big problems that we have in a modern society and one of the most prevalent problems being racism which he also had seen throughout his time in Hollywood.[4] He explains that one of the biggest plot points in Avatar the Last Airbender is that the protagonist needs to bring balance into the world so that the four nations can live in harmony. His goal through that podcast is bring to light a lot of the racism seen in today's society.[9] Basco hopes that by comparing the two worlds of Avatar the Last Airbender and our world he could help others realize the terrible impacts of racism and show people how they can help combat this problem. Avatar: Braving the Elements recently had its third season air in January of 2024.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Dante R Basco, Born 08/29/1975". California Birth Index. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  2. [2]
    Farris, Christopher (February 11, 2019). "These Filipinos Are the Voices of Modern Cartoon and Anime Characters". Esquire. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  3. [3]
    Jermel-Lynn Quillopo (22 March 2013). "Social Encore: Kinetic's perspective". Honolulu Pulse. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  4. [4]
    Alter, Ethan (September 24, 2021). "Dante Basco reflects on diversity in Hollywood as a child star: 'No one even knew what a Filipino was'". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  5. [5]
    Catherine Gewertz (December 26, 1992). "The Fine Art of Fame". Los Angeles Times.
  6. [6]
    Gabi Duncan (12 August 2014). "Hook Actor Dante Basco Remembers Robin Williams With Touching Video and Letter". E!. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  7. [7]
    Ada Tsend (28 June 2017). "Remember Rufio in 'Hook'? The actor is trying to keep his cult character's legacy alive". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  8. [8]
    Oller, Jacob (2020-07-10). "Avatar: The Last Airbender's Dante Basco on 'tango' of doing live, audience-driven Twitch show". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  9. [9]
    Dar, Taimur (June 23, 2021). "INTERVIEW: Janet Varney and Dante Basco talk BRAVING THE ELEMENTS for the Last Airbender Podcast". Comics Beat. Archived from the original on 2021-06-23. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  10. [10]
    Talia Baugnon (30 September 2014). "Dante Basco talks Hollywood at LMU". Los Angeles Loyolan. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  11. [11]
    Christopher John Farley (19 Jun 2012). "'The Legend of Korra' Creators Preview the Season Finale and as Karate Kid In Justice League Trapped In Time". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  12. [12]
    sidreddy (2020-06-22). "Alice Rehemutula | Filmmaker". SHOUTOUT LA. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  13. [13]
    "Meet Trailblazer Alice Rehemutula". VoyageLA. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  14. [14]
    Basco, Dante (2023-04-20). "Look what went down in #Paris… We got engaged!!! 💍 I really got to surprise her in the city of love! #eiffeltower 4/19/2023". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  15. [15]
    Gray, Lauren (2021-10-23). "Dante Basco Played Rufio In "Hook." See Him Now At 46". Yahoo Life. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  16. [16]
    Rehemutula, Alice (2023-09-16). "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  17. [17]
    "Dante Basco (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 26, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  18. [18]
    Schuhart, Jonah (July 16, 2021). "Netflix's Trailer For Monster Hunter: Legends Of The Guild Teases Monstrous Action". Looper. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  19. [19]
    https://www.instagram.com/avatarnetflixtv_/p/C5oflWKoUJL/?img_index=1
  20. [20]
    Terry Kelleher (29 April 1997). "Picks and Pans Review: Riot". People. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  21. [21]
    "DEATH BATTLE! Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki (Avatar VS My Hero Academia)". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  22. [22]
    "Final Fantasy XIII (2010 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  23. [23]
    Brian Chard [@bcharred] (April 14, 2015). "Huge thanks to the stellar MKX voice actors: Troy @TroyBakerVA (Shinnok/EBlack/Fujin), Ronald M. Banks (Quan Chi); Ashly Burch (Cassie)..." (Tweet). Retrieved April 21, 2015 – via Twitter.
    Brian Chard [@bcharred] (April 14, 2015). "Danielle Nicolet (Jacqui/Sareena); Fred Tatasciore (Tremor); and Grey DeLisle and Dante Basco with some extra VO help. You're all amazing!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 21, 2015 – via Twitter.
  24. [24]
    Odell, Riley (2020-12-03). "The Asian Cultural Alliance presents: Dante Basco". UWIRE Text: 1–1.
  25. [25]
    Yu, Timothy (2021-03-11). The Cambridge Companion to Twenty-First-Century American Poetry. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-63621-6.
  26. [26]
    Lowrey, William. "People Painted Over: Whitewashing of Minority Actors in Recent Film." (2020).
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