Dante Basco
| Dante Basco | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Basco at the Comic Media Expo in October 2014 | |
| Born |
Dante R. Basco August 29, 1975 Pittsburg, California, US |
| Occupation | Actor, Voice Actor, Dancer |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Relatives | Dion Basco (brother), Arianna Basco (sister), Derek Basco (brother), Darion Basco (brother) |
Dante R. Basco (born August 29, 1975)[1] is an American actor, voice actor, and dancer. He is known for his role as Rufio in the 1991 live-action film Hook. He is also known for voicing Zuko in the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Jake Long from the Disney series American Dragon: Jake Long. He also starred in the hit Indie films The Debut and But I'm a Cheerleader.
He has also had an appearance in the webcomic, Homestuck,[2] of which Basco is a fan.
Life and career
Dante Basco is a Filipino American born in Pittsburg, California and raised in Cerritos and Paramount, California. He has four siblings, including actor Dion Basco.[3] His cousin, Nick, edits his videos on YouTube and has his own popular YouTube channel, Trainer Tips. In Dante's early years, he was part of the Streat Freaks breakdancing crew. When he got into acting, he started taking on minor roles in television. Basco's breakout performance was when he appeared as the charismatic red-stripe-haired leader Rufio of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman.[4] Basco chose to characterize the role with some of the more aggressive alpha male traits of teenage boys so as to maximize the tension with Williams' Pan character. Many of Rufio's lines were improvised by Basco who was happy to go head on with Robin Williams, who was often popularly cited as the king of improvisation. Daring, and bold, Basco's performance proved to be memorable and a big hit among fans. A punk band is later named after this character. He attended Orange County High School of the Arts[5] in the Music and Theatre Conservatory and graduated in 1993.
He had guest roles on television shows The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and had a recurring role on Moesha. After portraying characters of various Asian ethnicity except his own, he portrayed a Filipino American alongside his three brothers and sister in the independent film The Debut. He and his brothers starred in the sitcom Naked Brown Men. He played a gay teenager in the 1999 film But I'm A Cheerleader.[6] He starred as breakdancer Ramos in the 2006 film Take the Lead alongside Antonio Banderas. In many films, he hip-hop dances as he did in a Verizon Wireless commercial, as well as rapping and breaking in a Sprite commercial. He produced and co-starred in a music video parody of the song "Rehab" called "Wiihab".
He has done voice acting for many animated materials: Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Jake Long in American Dragon: Jake Long.[7] He voiced Matt Martin/Kewl Breeze in the short-lived animated series Zevo-3, several voices in the video game Saints Row, Shingo in the video games Skate, Skate 2, and Skate 3. He voiced in the video game Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, the male youth voice for the MMORPG game Aion: Tower of Eternity, and Iroh II in The Legend of Korra.[8]
Credits
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Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Moonwalker | Romeo | |
| 1990 | Cold Dog Soup | Chinese Boy | |
| 1991 | Hook | Rufio | |
| 1991 | The Perfect Weapon | Jimmy Ho | |
| 1995 | A Goofy Movie | Additional voices | |
| 1995 | Fist of the North Star | Bat | |
| 1996 | Gangstaz | Mario | |
| 1997 | Fakin' da Funk | Julian Lee | |
| 1998 | Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights | Prince Hong | |
| 1999 | But I'm a Cheerleader | Dolph | |
| 2000 | The Debut | Ben Mercado | |
| 2000 | Rave | Jay Hoon | |
| 2001 | Extreme Days | Corey Ng | |
| 2003 | Love Don't Cost a Thing | Spoken Word Artist | |
| 2003 | Biker Boyz | Philly | |
| 2003 | Naked Brown Men | Dante | |
| 2006 | Take the Lead | Ramos | |
| 2008 | This Life | Alex | |
| 2008 | Nite Tales: The Movie | Gerard | |
| 2009 | The Outside | Indo | |
| 2009 | Blood and Bone | Pinball | |
| 2010 | Blood River | Chuck G | |
| 2010 | Subject: I Love You | Nicky | |
| 2011 | Paradise Broken[3] | Ray | |
| 2012 | Hang Loose[3] | Dante | |
| 2014 | Bad Asses | Gangly Asian | |
| 2014 | Anita Ho | Taylor Bautista | |
| 2014 | JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time | Karate Kid (voice) | |
| 2014 | Murder101 | D. Phillips | |
| 2016 | Jarhead 3: The Siege | Blake | Direct to video |
Television
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Wonder Years | Gym Class Kid / Eddie / Kid #3 | 3 episodes |
| 1989 | "Highway To Heaven" | Champ Hopkins | Episode: "Choices" |
| 1991 | The Hit Man | Pauly | TV film |
| 1992 | Raven | Lucas | |
| 1993 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Sammy | Episode: "Seoul Shake" |
| 1995 | Alien Nation: Body and Soul | Trash #2 | TV film |
| 1995 | 500 Nations | Himself (voice) | Mini-series |
| 1995 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Kevin | Episode: "Cold Feet, Hot Body" |
| 1996 | Touched by an Angel | Miguel | Episode: "Random Acts" |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | Jimmy Chang | Episode: "Home Invasion" |
| 1997 | Riot[9] | Jeffrey Lee | TV film; segment: "Gold Mountain" |
| 1998 | Promised Land | Tito | Episode: "Out of Bounds" |
| 1998 | Moesha | Marco | 4 episodes |
| 1998 | Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Ghost of Rudi Hernandez | Episode: "The Student" |
| 1999 | Undressed | Jake | 5 episodes |
| 1999 | Viper | Rishi Lama | Episode: "Holy Terror" |
| 2000 | The Steve Harvey Show | Lee | Episode: "Guess Who's Not Coming to Counseling" |
| 2001 | The Chronicle | Noodles | Episode: "Here There Be Dragons" |
| 2001 | A Kitty Bobo Show | Kitty Bobo | TV film |
| 2002 | The Chang Family Saves the World | TV film | |
| 2002 | The Proud Family | Quoc Wong (voice) | Episode: "Romeo Must Wed" |
| 2002 | Providence | Justin Kim | Episode: "All the King's Men" |
| 2003 | Kim Possible | Fukushima (voice) | Episode: "Exchange" |
| 2005–2007 | American Dragon: Jake Long | Jake Long | 55 episodes |
| 2005–2008 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Prince Zuko (voice) | 49 episodes |
| 2006 | Entourage | Fukijama | Episode: "What About Bob?" |
| 2007 | The Suite Life of Zack & Cody | Hollywood London | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Community | Bully's Friend #2 | Episode: "Comparative Religion" |
| 2010 | CSI: Miami | Ruben Franco | Episode: "Happy Birthday" |
| 2010 | Generator Rex | Tuck (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2010 | The Boondocks | Jingmei (voice) | Episode: "The Red Ball" |
| 2010 | Firebreather | Kenny Rogers (voice) | TV film |
| 2010–2011 | Zevo-3 | Matt Martin/Kewl Breeze (voice) | 26 episodes |
| 2011 | Prime Suspect | Bounce (voice) | Episode: "Carnivorous Sheep" |
| 2012 | Hawaii Five-0 | Nicky Chang | Episode: "Pu'olo" |
| 2012–2014 | The Legend of Korra | General Iroh II | 5 episodes |
| 2013 | Ultimate Spider-Man[10] | Scorpion (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Love Midori[10] | Dante | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Star Wars Rebels[10] | Jai Kell (voice) | Episode: "Breaking Ranks" |
| 2014 | Hell's Kitchen | Himself | Season 12 Episode 14: "8 Chefs Compete" |
Web series
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Nostalgia Critic | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Let's Read Homestuck | Rufioh Nitram | Act 6 Intermission 3 |
| 2016[11] | Achievement Hunter Presents: Let's Play | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Camp Camp | Billy "Snake" Nikssilp | Episode 3 |
| 2013–present | JustKiddingNews | Himself | Various episodes |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Def Jam Fight for New York | Voice 3 |
| 2006 | Saints Row | Stillwater Residents |
| 2006 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Prince Zuko |
| 2007 | Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth | Prince Zuko |
| 2008 | Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno | Prince Zuko |
| 2009 | Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood | Seeing Farther |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation | Resistance soldier |
| 2009 | Aion: The Tower of Eternity | Youth Male Voice |
| 2010 | Final Fantasy XIII | Cocoon Inhabitant |
| 2012 | Avatar: The Legend of Korra | General Iroh II |
| 2015 | Mortal Kombat X | Additional Voices[12] |
Awards
- Young Artist Award - Hook
- Won Best Ensemble Cast
- Nominated Best Young Actor
See also
References
- ↑ "Dante R Basco, Born 08/29/1975". California Birth Index. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ "MS Paint Adventures". www.mspaintadventures.com. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
- 1 2 3 Jermel-Lynn Quillopo (22 March 2013). "Social Encore: Kinetic's perspective". Honolulu Pulse. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ Gabi Duncan (12 August 2014). "Hook Actor Dante Basco Remembers Robin Williams With Touching Video and Letter". E!. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ Catherine Gewertz (December 26, 1992). "The Fine Art of Fame". LA Times.
- ↑ IMDb. Accessed 2015-01-28.
- ↑ Talia Baugnon (30 September 2014). "Dante Basco talks Hollywood at LMU". Los Angeles Loyolan. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ 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.". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ Terry Kelleher (29 April 1997). "Picks and Pans Review: Riot". People. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- 1 2 3 IMDb | Dante Brasco | Actor. Accessed 2015-01-28.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/AchievementHunt/status/709809368615616512
- ↑ 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.