Dante Basco

Last updated
Dante Basco
Dante Basco by Gage Skidmore cropped.jpg
Basco in May 2024
Born
Dante Roman Basco

(1975-08-29) August 29, 1975 (age 49)
Occupation(s)Actor, voice actor
Years active1988–present
Spouse
Alice Rehemutula
(m. 2023)
Children1
Relatives Dion Basco (brother)
Ella Jay Basco (niece)

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 , Dolph in the cult film But I'm a Cheerleader , the lead character Ben Mercado in the hit indie film The Debut , and for voicing the titular protagonist of American Dragon: Jake Long and Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender .

Contents

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.

In 1998, Basco co-founded the Da Poetry Lounge, a slam and spoken poetry venue in Hollywood. [6]

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. [7]

In 2017, Basco produced a Kickstarter-funded short film, Bangarang, about the character Rufio. The film was directed by Jonah Feingold. [8]

Basco streams gameplay on Twitch. [9]

Basco released his memoir From Rufio to Zuko through the independent publisher Not a Cult. [9]

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. [10]

Voice acting

Basco talking to a Zuko cosplayer at Otakon 2014. Dante Basco Aug 2014.jpg
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 . Additional roles include Kwok Wong in The Proud Family , Matt Martin/Kewl Breeze in the short-lived animated series Zevo-3 , and General Iroh in The Legend of Korra. [11] [12]

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. [12]

Personal life

On April 19, 2023, Basco became engaged to Uyghur [13] [14] actress and television host Alice Rehemutula. [15] [16] They married in September 2023 in China. In May 2024, Rehemutula announced her pregnancy with their first child. [17]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990 Cold Dog Soup Chinese Boy
1991 The Perfect Weapon Jimmy Ho
1991 Hook Rufio
1995 A Goofy Movie Additional Voices
1995 Fist of the North Star BatDirect-to-video
1997 Fakin' da Funk Julian Lee
1999 But I'm a Cheerleader Dolph
2000 The Debut Ben Mercado
2001 Extreme Days Corey Ng
2003 Love Don't Cost a Thing Spoken Word Artist
2003 Biker Boyz Philly
2006 Take the Lead Ramos
2008 Nite Tales: The Movie Gerard
2009 Blood and Bone PinballDirect-to-video
2011 Subject: I Love You Nicky
2014 JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time Karate Kid Voice, direct-to-video [18]
2014 Cesar Chavez Filipino Striker
2014 Bad Asses Gangly Asian
2014 Murder101 D. Phillips
2016 Jarhead 3: The Siege Blake
2019 The Creatress Franklin
2021 The Fabulous Filipino Brothers Douglas "Duke" AbastaAlso director
2021 Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild AidenVoice [19] [18]
2025Aang: The Last AirbenderZukoVoice [20]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1988 The Wonder Years Eddie, Kid #32 episodes
1988 Santa Barbara Amado4 episodes
1988Dare to Say NoAsian KidEducational short film for EPCOT
1989 CBS Schoolbreak Special LuisEpisode: "15 and Getting Straight"
1989 Highway To Heaven Champ HopkinsEpisode: "Choices"
1989 Booker Ping PongEpisode: "Razing Arrizola"
1990 The New Adam 12 MankoEpisode: "Kid Kop"
1990 The Earth Day Special Kid (uncredited)
1993 Raven LucasEpisode: "The Journey"
1993–94 Hangin' with Mr. Cooper Sammy2 episodes
1995 500 Nations Additional Voices3 episodes
1995 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air KevinEpisode: "Cold Feet, Hot Body"
1995 Alien Nation: Body and Soul Trash #2Television film
1996 Nash Bridges Jimmy ChangEpisode: "Home Invasion"
1997 Riot [21] Jeff LeeTelevision film
Segment: "Gold Mountain"
1996 Touched by an Angel Robbie HawkinsEpisode: "Random Acts"
1998 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Rudy HernandezEpisode: "Bright Lights/Magic Mightyman/The Student/Scribbles/County Mystery"
1998 Moesha Marco4 episodes
1998 Promised Land TitoEpisode: "Out of Bounds"
1999 Viper Rishi LamaEpisode: "Holy Terror"
1999 Undressed Jake5 episodes
2000 The Steve Harvey Show LeeEpisode: "Guess Who's Not Coming to Counseling"
2001 A Kitty Bobo Show Kitty BoboVoice, pilot
2001 The Chronicle NoodlesEpisode: "Here There Be Dragons"
2002 Providence Justin KimEpisode: "All the King's Men"
2002 The Proud Family Quoc WongVoice, 2 episodes
2003 Kim Possible FukushimaVoice, episode: "Exchange"
2004 Johnny Bravo Filipino, Man #3Voice, episode: "Win an El Toro Guapo/Witch-ay Woman" [18]
2004 That's So Raven Phil4 episodes
2005–07 American Dragon: Jake Long Jake LongVoice, main role
2005 Lilo & Stitch: The Series Voice, episode: "Morpholomew"
2005–08 Avatar: The Last Airbender Prince Zuko Voice, main role (50 episodes) [18]
2006 Entourage FukijamaEpisode: "What About Bob?"
2007 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody Madrid2 episodes
2010 The Boondocks JingmeiVoice, episode: "The Red Ball"
2010 Dark Blue June BugEpisode: "Jane Wayne"
2010 Zevo-3 Matt Martin / Kewl BreezeVoice, 6 episodes [18]
2010 Firebreather Kenny RogersVoice, television film [18]
2010 CSI: Miami Ruben FrancoEpisode: "Happy Birthday"
2010–12 Generator Rex TuckVoice, 3 episodes [18]
2011 Prime Suspect BounceEpisode: "Carnivorous Sheep"
2012 Hawaii Five-0 Nicky ChangEpisode: "Pu'olo (The Package)"
2012–14 The Legend of Korra General IrohVoice, 6 episodes [18]
2013 Ultimate Spider-Man Scorpion Voice, 2 episodes [18]
2014 Star Wars Rebels Jai KellVoice, 4 episodes [18]
2018 A Million Little Things Cory2 episodes
2019 We Bare Bears CheddarVoice, episode: "Baby Orphan Ninja Bears"
2019 Drunk History The RabbitEpisode: "The Rabbit"
2019–20 Victor & Valentino JavierVoice, 2 episodes [18]
2020 Carmen Sandiego SpinkickVoice, 2 episodes
2021 Trese Bagyon KulimlimVoice, 2 episodes [18]
2021 Robot Chicken Squall Leonhart, Looky Loo, ZukoVoice, 2 episodes
2022 Little Demon IgnatiusVoice, 2 episodes
2023 Blindspotting HimselfSeason 2, Episode 4: “By Hook or by Crook”
2023 Almost Paradise Jace VargasSeason 2, Recurring Role
2024 Um, Actually himselfSeason 9, Episode 12

Web series

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014–19 Nostalgia Critic Himself6 episodes
2016–2019 Camp Camp Billy "Snake" NiksslipVoice
2018–2020Star Wars: Galaxy of AdventuresNarratorVoice
2020Let's Read Homestuck Rufioh NitramVoice, episode: "Act 6 Intermission 3 - Part 7" (The character of Rufioh Nitram is based off of Dante Basco's previous role as Rufio in Hook)
2020 Death Battle ZukoVoice, episode: "Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki (Avatar vs My Hero Academia)" [22]

Video games

YearTitleRole
2006 Saints Row Stilwater's Residents
2006 Call of Juarez Sees Farther
2006 Scarface: The World Is Yours Additional Voices
2006 Avatar: The Last Airbender Zuko [18]
2007 Skate Shingo
2007 Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth Zuko [18]
2008 Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno
2008 Aion Additional Voices
2009 Terminator Salvation Resistance Soldiers [18]
2009 Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Seeing Farther
2009 Skate 2 Shingo
2010 Final Fantasy XIII Cocoon Inhabitants [23]
2010 Skate 3 Shingo
2011 Nicktoons MLB Prince Zuko [18]
2015 Mortal Kombat X Additional Voices [24]

Awards

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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  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. Catherine Gewertz (December 26, 1992). "The Fine Art of Fame". Los Angeles Times .
  6. Yu, Timothy (2021-03-11). The Cambridge Companion to Twenty-First-Century American Poetry. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-108-63621-6.
  7. Gabi Duncan (12 August 2014). "Hook Actor Dante Basco Remembers Robin Williams With Touching Video and Letter". E! . Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  8. 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.
  9. 1 2 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.
  10. 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.
  11. Talia Baugnon (30 September 2014). "Dante Basco talks Hollywood at LMU". Los Angeles Loyolan. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  12. 1 2 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.
  13. sidreddy (2020-06-22). "Alice Rehemutula | Filmmaker". SHOUTOUT LA. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  14. "Meet Trailblazer Alice Rehemutula". VoyageLA. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  15. 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.
  16. Gray, Lauren (2021-10-23). "Dante Basco Played Rufio In "Hook." See Him Now At 46". Yahoo Life. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  17. Rehemutula, Alice (2023-09-16). "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
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  19. Schuhart, Jonah (July 16, 2021). "Netflix's Trailer For Monster Hunter: Legends Of The Guild Teases Monstrous Action". Looper. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
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  21. Terry Kelleher (29 April 1997). "Picks and Pans Review: Riot". People . Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  22. "DEATH BATTLE! Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki (Avatar VS My Hero Academia)". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  23. "Final Fantasy XIII (2010 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  24. 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.