Dante Basco

Dante Basco is an American actor, voice actor, poet, and dancer. He is best known for playing Rufio in the 1991 live action Peter Pan film Hook and Jake Long from the Disney series American Dragon: Jake Long.

Television work

 * Zevo-3
 * Generator Rex
 * American Dragon: Jake Long
 * The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
 * Moesha
 * The Wonder Years

Filmography

 * Subject: I Love You (2011)
 * Blood River (2010)
 * The Outside (2009)
 * Blood and Bone (2009)
 * This Life (2008)
 * Take The Lead (2006)
 * Love Don't Cost a Thing (2003)
 * Hook (1991)

Other credits

 * The Journey (short)
 * Final Fantasy XIII (video game)
 * Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (video game)
 * Terminator Salvation (video game)
 * Aion (video game)
 * The Lion's Den (short)

Personal life
In his early years, he was part of the Streat Freaks [sic] breakdancing crew. When he got into acting, he started taking on minor roles in television. He later appeared in a substantial role in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, as Rufio, the charismatic red-stripe-haired leader of the Lost Boys. The punk band Rufio is named after this character.

Basco enjoys the Los Angeles nightlife by frequenting clubs and lounges in Hollywood and West Hollywood. Other patrons frequently chant "Rufio... Rufio... Rufio", encouraging the actor to dance in the middle of the dance floor.

Career
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. He portrayed characters of different Asian ethnicities, but never Filipino. He did however, star in the independent film The Debut, in which he portrayed a Filipino-American alongside his three brothers and sister. He and all of his brothers starred in Naked Brown Men, a sitcom stylized show. He starred as Ramos in the 2006 film Take the Lead alongside Antonio Banderas, where he break-danced as well as performed ballroom dance. This was not the only film in which he was required to dance. In many films he hip-hop dances, just as he did in a Verizon Wireless commercial as well as rapping and breaking in a Sprite commercial. He also produced and co-starred in a music video parody of the song "Rehab" that is called "Wiihab". He is occasionally "whacked" in the video. He played a gay teenager in the 1999 film But I'm A Cheerleader.

Trivia

 * Zuko and Jake Long from American Dragon: Jake Long both have the ability to breathe fire. The characters also had adversarial-turned-friendly relations with a character on their respective shows voiced by Mae Whitman, those characters being Katara and Rose/Huntsgirl, respectively. Basco voiced the villain turned friend on Avatar, while Whitman voiced the villain turned friend on American Dragon.
 * Dante has announced he is a Zutara shipper.
 * Dante has stated that he will voice a character in The Legend of Korra who will have something to do with Zuko.
 * Dante Basco had already worked prior to Avatar: The Last Airbender with Mako Iwamatsu, Iroh's original voice actor, namely in the film Riot (1997), in which the two played father and son.