Danté Roman Titus Basco is an American actor, voice actor, and dancer. He is best known for playing Rufio in the 1991 live-action Peter Pan film Hook, in addition to his voice acting roles which include Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jake Long from the Disney series American Dragon: Jake Long, and General Iroh of the United Forces in The Legend of Korra.
Basco hosts the official podcast, Avatar: Braving the Elements, with Janet Varney.
Avatar: The Last Airbender credits[]
Prince Zuko[]
- Character information: Zuko
Basco was credited for voicing Zuko in "The Library" even though he did not appear in the episode.
Soldier #1[]
- 100. Unaired pilot
Additional voices[]
- 101. "The Boy in the Iceberg"
- 104. "The Warriors of Kyoshi"
- 108. "Winter Solstice, Part 2: Avatar Roku"
- 109. "The Waterbending Scroll"
- 115. "Bato of the Water Tribe"
The Legend of Korra credits[]
General Iroh[]
- Character information: Iroh
- 110. "Turning the Tides"
- 111. "Skeletons in the Closet"
- 112. "Endgame"
- 205. "Peacekeepers"
- 214. "Light in the Dark"
- 411. "Kuvira's Gambit"
Avatar: Braving the Elements credits[]
Host[]
| 104 free episodes and 7 premium episodes |
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Selected other credits[]
Television work[]
- American Dragon: Jake Long
- Carmen Sandiego
- Generator Rex
- Moesha
- Star Wars Rebels
- The Boondocks
- The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
- The Wonder Years
- Trese
- Ultimate Spider-Man
- Zevo-3
Filmography[]
- JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (2014)
- Subject: I Love You (2011)
- Blood River (2010)
- The Journey (2010; video short)
- The Outside (2009)
- Blood and Bone (2009)
- This Life (2008)
- Take The Lead (2006)
- Love Don't Cost a Thing (2003)
- Biker Boyz (2003)
- Extremedays (2001)
- The Debut (2000)
- The Lion's Den (1998; short)
- Hook (1991)
Other credits[]
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (video game)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno (video game)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth (video game)
- Aion (video game)
- Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (video game)
- Final Fantasy XIII (video game)
- Terminator Salvation (video game)
Biographical information[]
Personal life[]
In his early years, Dante Basco 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.
In 2023, Dante got married to actress Alice Rehemutula.[1]
Career[]
Basco has had guest roles on television shows The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and a recurring role on Moesha. He played a gay teenager in the 1999 film But I'm A Cheerleader and starred in the independent film The Debut, in which he portrayed a Filipino-American alongside his three brothers and sister; he appeared with his brothers again in 2003 in the sitcom Naked Brown Men. He appeared as Ramos in the 2006 film Take the Lead alongside Antonio Banderas, where he break-danced as well as performed ballroom dancing. Basco has performed in commercials as well, hip-hop dancing in a Verizon Wireless commercial and rapping and break-dancing in a Sprite commercial. He also produced and co-starred in a music video parody of the song "Rehab", called "Wiihab". Basco has portrayed characters of many different Asian ethnicities.
In 2019, he published his autobiographical novel From Rufio to Zuko.[2]
Awards[]
- 2012: Won a Special Jury Prize for Hang Loose (Best Actor)
- 2012: Won a Special Jury Prize for Paradise Broken (Best Actor)
- 1993: Won a Young Artist Award for Hook (Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture)
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 Basco had already worked with Mako Iwamatsu, Iroh's original voice actor, prior to Avatar: The Last Airbender in the 1996 film Riot, in which the two played father and son.
- Dante admitted to being a "Zutara" shipper.[3]
- Dante Basco, dressed as Zuko, made a cameo in Doug Walker's countdown of the best Avatar episodes. In character, Basco wanted to get revenge on the Nostalgia Critic for shaming the Avatar franchise and yelled about "honor". He attempted to hurl fireballs several times at Doug, chasing him around. At one point, Doug picked up the Library Edition of The Search graphic novel, capitalizing on Dante's unwillingness to harm the book by using it as a shield. Dante then apparently read through it, commenting that it was "an interesting read" before continuing his pursuit of Doug. He later made peace with the Critic and helped him to finish the countdown. Later in the video, Basco changed his costume to Jake Long.[4]
- Basco took part in an "all-star" actual play one shot of Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, produced by Magpie Games, alongside TTRPG figure Becca Scott, Ify Nwadiwe, and Jennie Kwan. He played the pre-generated character Ezra.[5]
References[]
- ↑ Dante Basco's Instagram. Instagram (September 21, 2023). Retrieved on December 4, 2023.
- ↑ Dante Basco autobiography book (October 8, 2019). Retrieved on December 27, 2019.
- ↑ Dante Basco Zutara tweet (September 6, 2011). Retrieved on March 13, 2013.
- ↑ Nostalgia Critic (October 8, 2015). Top 11 Best Avatar Episodes w Dante Basco! - Nostalgia Critic. YouTube. Retrieved on October 11, 2018.
- ↑ Avatar Cast REUNITES To Play Avatar Legends 🔥 - Official Gameplay - Avatar: The Last Airbender. YouTube (April 16, 2023). Retrieved on May 16, 2023.